The NYT got any tippy toeing around certain subjects out of the way on back on Dec. 21, here:

There has been some kind of confusing shit going on as regards 3 different suspects, including this:

This most recent NYTimes' reporting, from Dec. 26, clears things up some on what's going on, sounds to me like they are having a problem with the DNA testing and it will take more time:

Tessa Majors Killing: 14-Year-Old Is Released Without Charges

He is believed to have wielded the knife that killed her, the police said.

By Edgar Sandoval

Two weeks after an intensive manhunt for a 14-year-old linked to the killing of Tessa Majors, police officers finally located the teenager on Thursday at a family member’s home in the Bronx.

The authorities believed that the teenager’s family was shielding him until a mark on his hand healed, an official briefed on the case said. The official described the mark as consistent with a bite.

But just hours later, after he was questioned by the police, the 14-year-old was released on Thursday afternoon. It was unclear whether he would be charged in the murder of Ms. Majors, the Barnard College student who was found bleeding to death earlier this month just outside Morningside Park in Manhattan.

The police have said that Ms. Majors bit one of her three attackers during a park mugging, and that the 14-year-old is believed to be the person who wielded the knife that killed her.

Initial DNA tests performed in the case have been inconclusive, the official said, adding that the authorities were hoping that pending test results would provide crucial information. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The interview with the 14-year-old came a week after the Police Department had taken the unusual step of releasing a photo of a minor in an effort to find him. The chief of detectives, Rodney Harrison, announced on Thursday morning that the teenager was in custody, to the relief of police officials who are under pressure to solve the first high-profile murder under the new police commissioner, Dermot F. Shea.

But after several hours of questioning at the 26th Precinct station house in Morningside Heights, near where the killing took place, the 14-year-old was released without being charged.

“This was a significant development in the investigation process,” Chief Harrison said at around 2:40 p.m. “Although he has since been released to the custody of his attorneys, the investigation remains very active.”

Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem, which is representing the teenager, declined to comment [....]