Hundreds Pack Morningside Park To Remember Slain Barnard College Student Tessa Majors
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The grieving Barnard College community came together on Sunday to mourn the tragic killing of an 18-year-old student.
Tessa Majors was found stabbed to death in Morningside Park on Wednesday evening.
CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez attended the evening vigil in Morningside Heights.
The staircase in the park was where Majors took her last steps and on Sunday night it was where she was remembered. Local leaders and community members are vowing to make sure she did not die in vain.
Tessa Majors (Photo: CBS2)
Hundreds of people filled the park. The staircase was glowing, thanks to illuminated cellphones. Majors, a freshman at Barnard, climbed the stairs in desperation after being stabbed by a group of young men who had robbed her.
So far, police have arrested a 13-year-old who is believed to have been involved in the fatal attack.
Local leaders have called for more security lights, cameras and police patrols in the area. Some blame the city for failing Majors and the young man accused in her killing. Others said politics had no place at the vigil and instead the time should be used to honor a life.
“I would also like for there to be room for just grieving. I think there should be space for both, for thinking about how we’ve created as a city circumstances where kids, or young children, are so desperate that they resort to violence. But also a space for just being sad and grieving this personal thing that happened to this individual,” Barnard graduate Darcy Cassidy said.
Majors was a talented musician and singer, and an aspiring journalist.
“Tessa must have been extraordinary. Feminist, iconoclast, musician, friend … I want to know more about Tess. Together we will, we must, find en enduring way to remember and honor her,” added Lisa Carnoy, co-chair of the Columbia University Board of Trustees.
Since Majors’ killing, there have been increased police patrols in the park. Locals told Sanchez they want that to be permanent.
https://ift.tt/35pvczj
December 16, 2019 at 06:02AM
No comments: