Teen sentenced to 14 years to life in killing of Tessa Majors
The teenager who admitted to the stabbing death of a New York City college student was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years to life in prison. Rashaun Weaver had pleaded guilty in December to murder and robbery in the killing of Tessa Majors in 2019.
Weaver, 16 now and 14 at the time, was the last of three teens to be sentenced in the case.
Majors, 18 and a first-year student at Barnard College, was stabbed in December 2019 during an attempted robbery while going through the park near campus in the early evening. She collapsed on the street after staggering up a flight of stairs.
A statement from her family was read at Weaver's sentencing, saying, "The family of Tess Majors misses her every second of every day and will continue to do so as long as they are living and sentient. Their pain is immeasurable and does not go away."
Weaver also read from a statement in court, saying he would "give anything to go back in time so that it never happened."
His attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, told The Associated Press later Wednesday that Weaver "grew up in the most horrific of circumstances with no parental guidance," in a system that didn't look out for him.
Weaver and another teen were charged as adults in the killing; a 13-year-old was tried as a juvenile.
Luchiano Lewis, the other teen charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to murder and robbery and was sentenced in October to nine years to life in prison.
The 13-year-old was sentenced in 2020 to 18 months in a juvenile detention center.