Rashaun Weaver sentenced to 14 years to life, bringing Tess Majors case to a close

Upper West Side NY

19 January, 2022

6:42 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY MAYA MITRASINOVIC • JANUARY 19, 2022, 3:14 PM Rashaun Weaver was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison in the New York Supreme Court today. As the last of three teenagers to plead guilty to the December 2019 killing of Barnard first-year Tess Majors, his sentencing brings the case to a close more than two years after the tragedy occurred in Morningside Park. Weaver's sentencing follows a plea deal, in which he pleaded guilty to two other robberies after his arrest in February 2020. This reduced his potential sentence from over 20 years to life down to 14 years. Weaver originally pleaded not guilty to the killing, but evidence to the contrary led to today's sentencing. He was recorded making statements to his father, who was in prison at the time, that Majors refused to let go of their phone when his group attempted to take it, and that he stabbed her because of this. Furthermore, investigators found DNA evidence from a Majors' fingernail clipping tying him to the crime. Luchiano Lewis and the third teenager, who has remained unnamed, also provided statements that implicated Weaver. Lewis stated that Weaver had asked him to participate in robberies at Morningside Park multiple times, and the third teenager stated that Weaver was the first to approach Majors and that he was the one who stabbed her. In December 2021, Weaver pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Despite being only 14 at the time of the crime, Weaver was sentenced as an adult. Similarly, Lewis, who was also 14, was sentenced as an adult in October 2021 to nine years to life in prison. The third teenager was not charged as an adult and was sentenced to up to 18 months in a juvenile detention facility. The Majors case sparked controversy around the city, as community members grappled with both the tragedy itself and the complex issues that arose in its wake. The decision to try both Lewis and Weaver as adults was questioned by some as community members called attention to alternative forms of public safety that take community-oriented approaches to preventing crime. Approaches that center restorative justice, as well as youth programming, became areas of focus. At the sentencing, Weaver's lawyer emphasized the lack of support Weaver had growing up, specifically citing that "all of the role models in his life have been to prison." The issue of public safety resurfaced in 2021 after the December murder of Davide Giri outside Morningside Park. While the University's response after such incidents has been to increase New York Police Department and Columbia Public Safety presence in and around the park, some community members have criticized such tactics. "The community board continues to be saddened by the developments in this case, and I am skeptical that the 14 years that he has been sentenced to will serve the interests of helping him rebuild his life and of bringing justice to those impacted by Tess Majors' death," Barry Weinberg, the chair of Community Board 9, a local advisory board covering Morningside Heights and West Harlem, said. "The underlying causes that led to Tess Majors' stabbing must be addressed in order for justice to truly be served and future murders prevented." Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.