Devastated family and friends of Barnard College murder victim Tessa Majors gathered privately Saturday in her Virginia hometown to remember the slain student with music and shared memories.
Mourners attending the Celebration of Life for the 18-year-old college freshman arrived at Majors' high school alma mater, the St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va., for a ceremony where friends and classmates provided music and readings, along with personal recollections. A program for the event showed a smiling Majors, her right hand on her hip, against a multi-colored background.
"She loved life and got her money's worth out of it," her dad, Inman Majors, wrote in a letter for the memorial program. "The family is heartbroken and will miss her so very much. But they feel her presence currently more than her absence, and feel the love and support they've received from around the world."
In a remembrance titled "Celebrating Tessa Rane Majors," the teen was remembered for her love of board games, lemonade made from real lemons, and her great-grandmother's home _ "where Santa Claus came every year." A laptop screen featured a photo of a grinning Majors wearing a paper crown.
The memorial was closed to both the public and the media, and the family announced in advance that they would not speak publicly during the event. Mourners arrived at the school where Majors graduated just six months ago to find displays with reminiscences illustrating different aspects of the victim's too-short life.
"She liked to discover new things and then to share that discovery freely," the remembrance continued. "She liked to introduce old friends to new ones and expected everyone to just get along."
She had performed in Virginia with the local band Patient 0, and worked as an intern with a local newspaper.
As the sad event began, the NYPD was still searching for a 14-year-old baby-faced suspect whose photo was released Friday. The suspect was not identified by name, and sources said he reneged on a deal to surrender last Monday _ instead jumping from a car on his way to meet with detectives.
A 13-year-old was arrested one day after the Dec. 11 slaying where Majors was apparently stabbed to death in a robbery that went off the rails as she walked near a staircase in Morningside Park near the Columbia University campus.
"Her death is an immeasurable loss, and we mourn alongside the Majors family and all who knew and loved Tess," said St. Anne's head of school David Lourie after word of the killing reached her old campus.
Her parents are Christy Majors and James Madison University professor and novelist Inman Majors.
