Hundreds Pack Morningside Park To Remember Slain Barnard College Student Tessa Majors
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The grieving Barnard College community came together once again Sunday night to mourn the tragic killing of an 18-year-old student, stabbed to death in Morningside Park on Wednesday evening.
The stone staircase in the center of the park was glowing in memory of Tessa Majors. Candles and cellphone lights illuminated the path the freshman climbed as she desperately looked for help Wednesday night, after she was stabbed by a group of young males who robbed her, CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported.
On Sunday, hundreds gathered, fighting back tears, embracing and comforting each other as they mourned the loss of the talented musician, singer and aspiring journalist.
"The fact that she's not going to have any of those experiences, that's what I'm thinking about. That's what I'm feeling," Barnard College graduate Darcy Cassidy said.
"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.
So far, have arrested a 13-year-old suspect and they've increased patrols in Morningside Park.
But local leaders want more.
"Not just additional lighting, not just additional cameras ... We need officers foot patrol walk in the park 24 hours a day," Assemblywoman Inez Dickens said.
Some blamed the city not only for failing Majors, but also the young man accused in her killing, saying not enough is being done to keep young people off the streets.
"We must do more to insure that every child in this neighborhood grows up with a loving community and the support that they need to be healthy adults," City Councilman Mark Levine said.
Some mourners said politics had no place at a vigil meant to honor Majors' 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," Cassidy said.
"I hope as tragic as it is this will be a galvanizing event for the neighborhood," another mourner said.
Mourners said the most tragic part of it all is that no one will know what Majors could have become.