A 14 -year -old boy has been arrested and charged in the stabbing death of a New York university student, authorities said Saturday , in a case that is being closely watched due to its racial dynamics.

Tessa Majors , 18, a freshman at Barnard College, was attacked by three teens as she walked through Morningside Park on December 11 .

The park separates the prestigious Barnard College and Columbia University from Harlem, the predominantly black neighbourhood in Manhattan ’ s northwest.

Majors , who was white , was found just outside the park bleeding heavily , the criminal complaint said . She had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and died at a hospital.

Rashaun Weaver , 14, who is black , was accused of stabbing Majors . He had been wanted for several weeks and was arrested without incident Friday night.
Weaver will be tried as an adult on second -degree murder and robbery charges , Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said .

“ We are confident that we have the person in custody who stabbed her , and that person will face justice in a court of law , ” New York police chief Dermot Shea told a news conference .

Vance said investigators have video and DNA evidence and suggested the suspect had incriminated himself on an audio recording .

A 13 -year-old alleged accomplice was also charged but will be tried in juvenile court .
The events evoke memories of the 1989 “ Central Park Five ” case when five black and Hispanic teens were wrongly convicted and sentenced to prison for the rape and assault of a white female jogger in the famous park .

Vance suggested the sensitivities of the latest case contributed , in part , to the delay in charging Weaver .

“ We ’ re dealing with a 14- year-old and we will be very careful to safeguard all the rights that he has as we go forward with this case , ” he said .

“ I want New Yorkers to know that we are recommitting today to fairness in this case because only a fair process will result in true justice for Tessa Majors . ”
Source:- AFP