Teenager Gets 9 Years To Life For Murder Of Barnard Student

MORNINGSIDE PARK, NY — Luchiano Lewis, 16, was sentenced Thursday to nine years to life in prison, one month after he pleaded guilty to killing 18-year-old Barnard student Tessa Majors in Morningside Park in December 2019, reports the New York Times.

Lewis was 14 at the time of the stabbing.

Lewis was one of three teenagers charged in the murder of the Barnard freshman and had gone into the park on Dec. 11, 2019, with the goal of robbing someone. The group eventually came upon Majors as she approached the stairs to exit the park near West 116th Street.

There was a confrontation and struggle that resulted in Majors getting stabbed multiple times. She died minutes later.

Lewis, who was arrested in February 2020, was charged as an adult alongside his classmate Rashaun Weaver, who is accused of stabbing Majors as she fought off the attempted robbery. Weaver pleaded not guilty to murder last year.

Lewis told a judge on Tuesday that Weaver had invited him to come to the park that night along with a third middle-school classmate. The trio had gone to Morningside Park three times beforehand, but only got as far as threatening one man, he said.

The boy said he was unaware that Majors had been stabbed at all that night, though he noticed feathers flying out of her down jacket.

"The next morning, I heard there was a murder in the Park," Lewis said, according to a prepared statement. "I looked up the story on a phone and saw a photo of the dead girl and I realized it was the girl we had robbed."

The third member of the group was 13 at the time and was not charged as an adult.

"The murder of Tessa Majors tore at the fabric of the entire city," Judge Robert Mandelbaum said while delivering the sentence to Lewis on Thursday. "The defendant was and is extremely young. He has his whole life ahead of him but Tessa Majors does not."

You can read more about Thursday's conviction on the New York Times website.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.

Read More:

• Boy Pleads Guilty To Murder Of Tessa Majors In Morningside Park
• Cameras Coming To Morningside Park, Over A Year After Murder