A 14-year-old boy was sentenced Monday to the maximum of 18 months in juvenile detention for the robbery and murder of Barnard College student Tessa Majors last year, which led to outrage across New York City, USA Today reports. The teen, who pleaded guilty on June 3, was 13 at the time of the attack. He was described by his attorneys as having a “limited role” in the killing, not the suspect who stabbed Majors. The two 14-year-old boys charged as adults in Majors’ murder, Rashaun Weaver and Luchiano Lewis, are in custody. The teen sentenced on Monday will serve a minimum of six months in a secure juvenile facility, said the Office of the Corporation Counsel.
The stabbing death of Majors, 18, last December prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to increase patrols near Barnard, a women’s college affiliated with Columbia University. The teen previously described the attack as a crime of opportunity. The youths saw Majors walking up some steps and approached her. “Rashaun went up to her and said something to her and Tessa yelled for help,” said one teen. “Rashaun used the knife that I had handed to him to stab Tessa and I saw feathers coming out of her coat.”