Tess Majors

Chelsea Deuso
Aug 12, 2020
10 min read

Tessa Majors

This is the case of a young woman described as talented and kind. A singer and bass player in a band that had just started picking up. A young woman living out every little girl’s dream, leaving the quiet state of Virginia and moving to the fast-paced streets of New York City. Unbeknownst to her, this would also be the last place she’s seen alive.. This is the tragic story of Tess Majors.

Tessa Majors, who went by Tess, was born on May 19, 2001 in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia to Inman and Christy Majors. For you University of Tennessee fans out there (Go Vols), she was the great niece of Coach Johnny Majors. She was a music fan even playing bass and singing in a band of her own called Patient 0. They had played a show in NYC and were set to play a couple more in her hometown of Charlottesville. She had graduated from St. Anne’s-Belfield school in May of 2018. Tess was the daughter of an author and English professor which I’m sure had some influence in her life to lead her to her Journalism major at Barnard College which is a private all-girl's school.

I would like to read you something shared on Time.com that she wrote as part of her essay to get into Barnard. I think it speaks loudly for the type of forward-moving, strong woman she was:

“‘As an avid feminist, I have striven towards bridging my community gender divide by being outspoken in my classes, taking an intensive course on social justice, and campaigning for a congressional candidate. I enjoy taking difficult classes and feel invigorated when forced outside of my intellectual comfort zone. I embrace the culture of positivity and growth at Barnard.’”

This is someone that was a leader. Someone who would fight for you. Someone who stands up for what they believe in. Someone who fights for your rights as a human being. A fighter. This is someone we all look up. And she was taken from this world. For what? Her wallet and cell phone? Absolutely shameful.

Tess would leave for New York City to attend Barnard College in September of 2019 and lose her life only four short months later in December of 2019 in Morningside Park.

What Do We Know About Morningside Park?

Morningside Park is in upper Manhattan near Harlem, Morningside Heights, and adjacent to Columbia University.

By the 1960’s it already had a reputation of being unsafe and unsanitary due to crime rates, homeless population, and drug addiction. At one point, the park was named “Muggingside Park”. Throughout the years there were many plans of rehabbing the park, but it fell through many times. Columbia had decided to build a playground/gym there and donated money to the project, but that fell through leaving a large crater in the park that later will become a pond. They did a pretty extensive renovation on the lower end of the park but did not redo the northern part leaving it overgrown and still frequented by drug dealers/addicts. Eventually the whole park would get renovated and there’s claim the park was deemed “safe”, but from what I read, people were still getting mugged pretty recently.

It sounds like it probably was a decent looking park, but if you didn’t live there you wouldn’t know about the crime rates. You also might feel safe there if it’s close to your college campus where you also feel safe. Which from what I’ve read, Barnard College is close to this park. I also read that the police did safety briefings often, and they had noticed an absence of Barnard College at these safety briefings. I don’t know if that means they have one designated person that usually would come and gather information then go back to campus and disperse it or what, but they did notice the absence.

December 11, 2019

Wednesday, December 11, 2019 will be the day Tess Majors loses her life, but not for a lack of trying. This was a young, strong, independent woman who was not going to let these people take her belongings without a fight.

Tess was walking through Morningside Park around 7pm so think December... It's probably dark or getting dark already when she was approached by two 14-year-old males, Rashaun Weaver and Luchiano “Lucci” Lewis and a 13-year-old male who was not named due to not being charged as an adult. The next thing we know, Tess is found on the street, with multiple stab wounds, by campus security who calls 911. When police arrive, she is unfortunately unconscious and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where she will succumb to her injuries and be pronounced dead.

Two days later on December 13th, the 13-year-old attacker will be arrested. This is his account of what happened.

The three boys headed to the park with intent and a plan to rob someone. From what I’ve read, and we talked about earlier, this is what that park is known for. Troubled kids committing robbery, homeless, and drug addiction.

According to the youngest assailant, they were walking through the park, someone dropped a knife, and he picked it up and handed it to Rashaun. They then spotted Tess coming down the stairs into the park. Rashaun was the first to approach her, and she immediately yelled for help. The other male, Lucci, was helping hold her in a “chokehold” while they were trying to get her stuff.

She was yelling for help, that she was being robbed, telling them no, and it wasn’t helping her. At one point, she bit one of the 14-year-old suspects. Lucci has her in a chokehold while Rashaun tries to continue to rob her. Then the knife that the 13-year-old had handed to Rashaun is used in stabbing her over and over and over again. The 13-year-old male said he saw feathers coming out of her jacket while she was being stabbed. Clearly, it was a brutal stabbing.

After she was stabbed multiple times, the boys picked through her pockets, Rashaun, Lucci, 13-year-old ran out of the park, and left her for dead.

Even after enduring severe trauma, Tess continued to fight for her life as she continued to walk up a huge flight of stairs and out onto the street before collapsing from her injuries where she was found by campus security.

Tess will be taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where she will be pronounced dead after succumbing to her injuries.

And yes, there was an irresponsible person in a position of power named Ed Mullins who is a leader in the police union. He made truly stupid comments after her murder that Tess was buying marijuana in the park. Police actually investigating this case have came out and said that’s false with absolutely zero indication she was doing that. The 13-year-old literally told police they were in the park that night to ROB someone... it wasn’t a drug deal gone bad. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time. The Mayor of NYC tweeted out the following:

“Think of Tessa’s parents, her friends. This is heartless. It’s infuriating. We don’t shame victims in this city.”

And he is so right! How freaking disrespectful to even insinuate that, first of all. And second of all, who gives a crap!? Is marijuana justification for murder? Last I checked it wasn’t. So why don’t ya shut up with your moronic and false opinions when they weren’t asked for in the beginning. I feel confident if that

were your child you wouldn’t appreciate that, either.

December 13, 2019

Two days after Tess had passed away, the 13-year-old assailant was arrested by police and charged with the following:

Second-degree murder
Criminal possession of a weapon
First-degree robbery

He had actually been picked up on the 12th, started talking about what happened to Tess, and they officially arrested him on the 13th.

His interview led police to discovering the other 14-year-old suspects one of which had already been talked to by police with an attorney present and released.

His attorney was not happy stating that he didn’t have any attorney present, but police reported guardians were present during their conversations. The same attorney requested that he be released on bond given he had no previous criminal record (sounds more like he had one and just hadn’t been caught), and he had responsible guardians in his aunt and uncle, but the judge subsequently denied this request given the nature of the crimes. He remained in a juvenile detention center.

December 20, 2019

NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison had tweeted out pictures of both Rashaun Weaver and Luchiano Lewis asking for help in finding the boys.

By December 26th, he tweets the following:

“Earlier today, we announced that we located the 3rd subject in the Tessa Majors Investigation. This was a significant development in the investigative process. After being taken into custody, his attorneys were present at the 26 precinct for the entire investigative process. Although he has since been released to the custody of his attorneys, the investigation remains very active. Our detectives are the best at what they do and are committed to finding justice for all parties involved.”

All three boys attend the same middle school near Morningside Park... Yes, I said M I D D L E S C H O O L.....

February 14, 2020

On the night of the 14th, police arrested one of the 14-year-old assailants. Although the name was not listed, I’m assuming it was Rashaun Weaver due to the statement will we talk about in a minute. The charges are as follows:

Three counts of second-degree robbery
Two counts of second-degree murder
One count first-degree robbery

I’m really confused by the following information.. He told police that they confronted Tess and tried to take her phone from her when she obviously resisted, he claims she was “hanging on to it” and so he “hit her with a knife” but... he’s going to plead NOT guilty, but he admitted to being the who stabbed her!?

February 19, 2020

Luchiano “Lucci” Lewis is arrested and charged with the following:

First-degree robbery
Second-degree robbery
Second-degree murder

He was accused of holding Tess in a chokehold while she was being robbed and murdered.

According to an article I read on, The Cut, New York had recently changed their laws to reflect an age of 18 for criminal responsibility, BUT you can still try someone younger than 16 as an adult if they have committed a violent crime. These two boys were charged as adults in the slaying of Tess Majors.

The Charges/Trial

The original 13-year-old assailant, now 14, did get some charges dropped. He was never tried as an adult as at the time, he was only 13-years-old, and the youngest age they can try for an adult is 14 at the time of the crime He did; however, accept a plea deal and plead guilty to the first-degree robbery charge.

As I mentioned earlier, there was some questioning in the 13-year-old's story from his attorney stating that he was badgered by police, he originally said he didn’t know anything robbing her, etc..

But, he told a story that was later corroborated by the other boys. And of course he’s going to say he didn’t know what was going on. He’s 13. I’m sure he was absolutely terrified.

On June 15th, 2020, he was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the ACS which is the Administration for Children’s Services.

He won’t have to serve his whole sentence, though, but at a minimum of 6 months in a facility and then the ACS has the responsibility of deciding whether he can be released and be monitored or extend his stay until he is 18 years of age.

At this time, Rashaun Weaver and Lucci Lewis are both awaiting trial on their murder and robbery charges, but they have entered as not guilty.

I will update you all as the case progresses, but I thought we should end this episode on the letter Tess’s parents wrote to the court:

“There are no words adequate to describe the pain and suffering that the family of Tess Majors has endured since her death by murder.

On Labor Day weekend 2019, the parents of Tess Majors dropped her off at Barnard College in New York City to begin her freshman year of college. One hundred days later, they brought her home to Virginia in an urn.

What words could be used to describe that grief? Compounding the sudden loss of their talented, kind, and beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, cousin, and niece is the incredibly violent nature of her death, which has been described in grisly detail by the respondent himself.

The family can, however, articulate how these hearings have amplified their pain. On December 12th, the day after Tess Majors was murdered in Morningside Park, the respondent confessed to his role in her slaying. Six months later, in his plea deal, the respondent has confessed to telling the truth in December. The Majors family wonders what these hearings have been about.

The family notes the negotiated parsing of language of the plea deal which studiously avoids use of the word “murder.” They note as well the language used by the Legal Aid Society in their press release regarding the plea deal, which states that “Tess Majors’s death was tragic.” Reading this description of events, some might wonder if perhaps Tess Majors was involved in an accident. Tess Majors did not die in an accident. Tess Majors was murdered, plain and simple, and no amount of semantic gymnastics changes that fact.

The family also notes that--from December 12th until this day--the respondent has shown a complete lack of remorse or contrition for his role in the murder of Tess Majors. By his own admission, the respondent picked up a knife that had fallen to the ground and handed it to an individual who then used it to stab Tess Majors to death.

The family can’t help but wonder what would have happened if that knife had been left on the ground.

The family of Tess Majors was also impacted by the statement put out by the Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, which claimed that the respondent was “not the main actor in the murder.” As far as the family is concerned, there are no minor actors in the murder of Tess Majors. The Corporation Counsel’s statement also states that this plea deal resolution is “in the best interest of the community.” The Majors family wonders how many in the community---any community, including the many Tess was a part of and the ones that her family members continue to be a part of--would agree with this assessment.

Tess would have turned 19 on May 11th. That day has come and gone without her. The Majors family has experienced their first Christmas without her, a holiday that will be forever tainted by sharing the month of her murder. The first Mother’s Day without her has come and gone, the first Father’s Day without her will be this Sunday. The Majors family wakes up thinking about her and goes to bed thinking about her. Her absence is palpable and unrelenting.”