NEW YORK _ Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors' desperate struggle for life helped steer police to the Harlem teen accused in her brutal death.
Suspect Rashaun Weaver, only 14 years old, was charged as an adult with robbery and murder Saturday for fatally stabbing the vibrant 18-year-old student after his DNA was discovered beneath the victim's fingernails, authorities said.
The match, along with other damning evidence, emerged as Weaver was finally arrested more than two months after the Dec. 11 mugging-turned-murder on an outdoor staircase in Morningside Heights. Court documents offered a chilling glimpse into Majors' final terrifying moments of life after the knife-wielding Weaver and two accomplices targeted her, authorities said.
Majors' frantic scratching and clawing provided the pivotal DNA sample, with a source telling The New York Daily News that the evidence helped point investigators to the teen suspect.
Majors also suffered multiple stab wounds in the 6:50 p.m. robbery, including one that pierced her heart, officials said. Authorities also revealed the last desperate words shouted by the aspiring journalist from Virginia: "Help me! I am being robbed!"
"It's been a long, difficult process from Dec. 11 when Tessa Majors was murdered, but we are confident that we are delivering a measure of justice in announcing the grand jury indictment and subsequent arrest of one of those involved in the killing," said New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea at a One Police Plaza news conference.
Weaver was picked up Friday by police in the lobby of the Taft houses in Harlem after dodging detectives for weeks, including one instance where he had agreed to surrender, sources said. Cops believed his disappearing act came after Majors bit the suspect on the hand as she fought for her life, and Weaver's family kept him hidden away so the wound could heal.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., investigators also relied on video evidence, witness identification, blood evidence, smartphone records and the defendant's own statements in identifying the suspect.
"It paints a gruesome picture of what this young woman went through in her final moments," said Vance. Security video showed the dying student struggling on a staircase landing with the three assailants, then slowly staggering up the steps after breaking free.
"Gimme your phone," one of the bandits told the doomed teen. "You got some weed? Gimme that too."
Weaver, in a recorded conversation, admitted using a knife on Majors because she was "hanging onto her phone" instead of turning it over, the criminal complaint alleged. Spokespeople for the Majors family did not return calls Saturday about the arrest.
The suspect was held overnight in the Fifth Precinct stationhouse before his Saturday arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. His next court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday.
The investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible, according to Vance. The criminal complaint noted that three individuals were spotted on the park staircase where Majors was stabbed to death, and only two are in custody.
On the night of the slaying, Weaver was wearing the same navy jacket with a horizontal white stripe and a red stripe across the chest as he sported four days earlier during a knifepoint robbery of a man inside Morningside Park, authorities said.
Weaver, who made off with an Apple iPhone XR, used his personal log-on to access the stolen device about 4 { hours after the holdup, officials said.
Authorities said the grand jury in the Majors case heard from 20 witnesses and reviewed 700 pieces of evidence across three weeks.
