Oakland student is found dead

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 7, 2007 | by Scott MarshallSTAFF

A 20-year-old woman who recently finished her sophomore year at Mills College was found dead in a New York apartment Sunday night, a death being investigated as a homicide, police said Monday.

Boitumelu "Tumi" McCallum, a native of South Africa whose parents are professors at New York University, was found dead Sunday night in a Greenwich Village apartment, where she moved after leaving Mills College.

"I was in complete shock when I found out" Monday afternoon, said Dominique Simpson, editor in chief of the Weekly student newspaper at Mills College who attended a class with McCallum last semester. "My heart goes out to her family."

McCallum was majoring in political, legal and economic analysis, was a dancer and tended to be reserved.

"When she did speak, when she did comment in class, it was always something very thoughtful," Simpson said.

McCallum had just celebrated her birthday on July 25.

Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement, "While awaiting the determination of the medical examiner's office as to the cause of death, the police department is treating the suspicious circumstances of this woman's death as a homicide."

An autopsy was inconclusive, and further tests may show why McCallum died.

Her mother, Teboho Moja, is a clinical professor of higher education at New York University, and her father, Robert McCallum, is an NYU art education adjunct professor, according to NYU's Web site.

Her mother has served on such boards of international bodies as the UNESCO-Institute for international Education Planning and the World Education Market and was appointed to a South African commission on higher education by President Nelson Mandela.

MediaNews staff writer Amanda Brand contributed to this story.

Reach Scott Marshall at (925) 945-4780 or smarshall2@cctimes.com.