A Young Life Cut Short: Murdered Barnard Student “Was Already Making the World a Better Place”

Chris Graham knew Tessa Majors was exceptional the moment he met her for coffee to discuss her planned internship last December.

Graham, editor of the Augusta Free Press, is accustomed to these discussions lasting 15 or 20 minutes.

“However, we sat there conversing for 212 hours. She posed numerous queries to me. I knew immediately that she would succeed.”

The then-high school senior from Charlottesville, Virginia, better known as “Tess,” impressed him with her enthusiasm, inquisitiveness, and openness to new experiences..,.

Graham says, “I told her she was a natural journalist.”

Specifically, he observed her desire to assist others by utilizing the platform that the Waynesboro, Virginia-based Augusta Free Press provided.

“She worked on a tale about a young guy who was developing an app to aid individuals with disabilities,” he explains.

“She desired to do so. She desired to draw attention to that. Such a selfless young woman was she.”

On the evening of December 11, Majors was fatally stabbed in New York City’s Morningside Park, close to her dorm at Barnard College, where she was a first-year student.

Multiple sites, including CNN, The New York Times, and NBC New York, indicate that the 18-year-old attempted to repel the group of adolescents who allegedly attacked her during the suspected heist by biting one in the finger…,

TIME, The New York Times, and NBC New York say that while one of the youths held her in a chokehold, another allegedly stabbed her with a knife in the face, wrists, and arms, stabbing her so violently that feathers fell from her jacket.

Allegedly, one of the youths searched through her pockets and stole her wallet.

The three boys then returned home.

Majors, who was bleeding from her wounds, managed to stagger up the large stairway in the west of the park, where she slumped..,

She was confirmed dead at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital after being taken there.

Graham affirms, “It’s still difficult to process.”

On Friday, one of the adolescents, a 13-year-old who is now charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree robbery, and unlawful possession of a weapon, spoke in family court about the alleged stabbing.

The middle schooler continues to be imprisoned in a juvenile facility without bail.

Tuesday, the judge determined probable cause for the counts of First-Degree Murder and First-Degree Robbery. His next court date is scheduled for December 23.

According to NYPD sources, officers are still hunting for a 14-year-old who ran from a car as he was being brought in for questioning on Monday night. Additionally, they are seeking a third suspect.

Those who knew Majors well, such as Graham, lament the loss of the clever, vivacious, and accomplished musician and bassist who had the world at her feet.

“It’s not fair that she was killed in such a senseless manner,” he argues. “It is incomprehensible that we will never know what she would have done in the future.

She was going to be successful at something, regardless of what it was.

“She intended to improve the world.”

He pauses before continuing, “She was already making the world a better place.”

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