Suspect, 13, Kept His Distance in NYC Stabbing Video

Dark and grainy surveillance video shows Barnard College student Tessa Majors struggling with two youths before she collapsed with stab wounds, according to court testimony. Detective Wilfredo Acevedo noted at Tuesday's hearing in Manhattan Family Court, however, that the 13-year-old suspect now in custody was not involved in the scuffle, per NBC New York. The boy—who allegedly picked up a red-handled knife that had been dropped by another teen, handed it off before the stabbing, and was later found with it—stood at least 10 feet away in Morningside Park, Acevedo said, adding the boy had insisted he didn't know his friends had planned to rob Majors. Legal Aid lawyer Hannah Kaplan said the video didn't show the boy touching Majors, or even the knife.

But acting prosecutor Rachel Glantz said the boy implicated himself when he admitted he and two others entered the park intending to rob someone, and initially followed a man. "He told detectives that he later picked up a knife and handed it to another individual," she added, per NBC News. "It is reasonable to infer that when the knife was picked up that it would be used in the course of a robbery." Judge Carol Goldstein then denied a request to release the boy, calling him a "threat to public safety." Charged with second-degree felony murder and robbery, he is to be detained at least until a Jan. 2 hearing. Police are still searching for a 14-year-old who fled before police questioning on Monday. Another person briefly in custody related to the murder has been released, per CNN. (More New York City stories.)