Tessa Majors' Parents Release Devastating Letter

First teen was sentenced Monday in plea deal; others are charged with Majors' murder
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 16, 2020 12:05 AM CDT
Updated Jun 16, 2020 6:21 AM CDT
Here's What Tessa Majors' Parents Have to Say
In this Dec. 21, 2019 file photo, photos, articles and letters are laid out on display before a ceremony honoring Tessa Majors at St. Anne's Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va.   (Erin Edgerton/The Daily Progress via AP, File)

The young teen who took a plea deal in the death of Tessa Majors was sentenced Monday to 18 months in juvenile detention, at least six of which will be served in a facility before he could potentially be released and monitored, USA Today reports. The boy, who was 13 when Majors was killed in a New York City park in December, escaped murder charges by pleading guilty to a single count of first-degree robbery; the other two teens who are accused, including the one who allegedly stabbed Majors in a robbery gone wrong, are awaiting trial as adults for felony murder and robbery. Inman and Christy Majors, Tessa's parents, released a victim impact letter after the sentencing hearing in which they make clear they do not agree with the way the judicial process has played out, NBC New York reports.

"From December 12th until this day," the letter reads, "the respondent has shown a complete lack of remorse or contrition for his role in the murder of Tess Majors. By his own admission, the respondent picked up a knife that had fallen to the ground and handed it to an individual who then used it to stab Tess Majors to death. The family can’t help but wonder what would have happened if that knife had been left on the ground." The letter also expresses dismay at the plea deal's avoidance of the word "murder" when describing what happened to Majors, who would have turned 19 on May 11. Hearing Majors' death described as simply a tragedy, the letter says, "some might wonder if perhaps Tess Majors was involved in an accident. Tess Majors did not die in an accident. Tess Majors was murdered, plain and simple, and no amount of semantic gymnastics changes that fact." (More on the case here.)

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