Family of slain NY student Tessa Majors slam NYPD for claiming she went to buy weed: 'They are blaming her for her own murder'
NEW YORK CITY: The family of murdered New York student Tessa Majors condemned the comments made by Ed Mullins, the president of NYPD sergeant’s union, on a radio show on December 15. Mullins appeared to blame the teen for going to Manhattan’s Morningside Park late in the evening to buy marijuana on December 11, when she was stabbed to death by a group of men in a botched robbery.
"The remarks by Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins we find deeply inappropriate, as they intentionally or unintentionally direct blame onto Tess, a young woman, for her own murder," the Majors family said in a statement on December 16, NBC News reported. "We would ask Mr Mullins not to engage in such irresponsible public speculation, just as the NYPD asked our family not to comment as it conducts the investigation."
In an interview on AM 970, Mullins revealed that a friend of Majors, who attended Barnard College, told the police that the 18-year-old victim was in the park to buy weed. According to a source who reviewed the surveillance video of the crime told the NY Daily News that at least two men confronted the college student as she was descending the steps of the park and after a “quick interaction” with them she fell to the ground, where she was stabbed multiple times.
“What I am understanding is that [Majors] was in the park to buy marijuana. Here we have a student murdered by a 13-year-old, we have a common denominator: marijuana,” said Mullins, adding that one of her alleged killers was a known weed smoker, New York Post reported.
While one of the suspects in the teen's killing is believed to be 13 years old, another potential suspect, who was released from the police custody on December 14, was 14 years old. The police are currently looking for a third suspect.
“We don’t enforce marijuana laws anymore. We’re basically hands-off on the enforcement of marijuana. I understand the mayor (Bill De Blasio) made statements that this is surprising on how this can happen in New York City,” Mullins added. “I really have to question what world he’s living in to think that this is surprising, when we are watching the city slowly erode, with shootings, stabbings, an increase in homicides and, most importantly, a hands-off policing policy. Something needs to change and it needs to change quickly or it’s gonna be very difficult to put the genie back in the bottle."
Majors' family added in their statement that they want to know "what exactly happened to Tess and who committed her murder. We believe, for the immediate safety of the community and the surrounding schools, that should be everyone’s top priority and we are grateful to the men and women of the NYPD for all of their efforts."