Columbia student found dead in dorm with bag over head

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A freshman at Columbia University was found dead in his dorm bathroom Friday morning, cops said.

Joshua Villa, 18, was discovered with a bag over his head inside the bathroom at Carman Hall, near West 114th Street and Broadway at 9:10 a.m.

Villa, who was from Azusa, Calif., was a member of the clubs Columbia Mentoring Initiative, Proud Colors and Columbia Queer Alliance, according to campus newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

In the hours before his death, Villa sent out a series of troubling tweets.

“Somebody almost noticed my irrelevancy. As their mind began to question my role, I quickly justified my existence: “I answer the phones,” he wrote.

He also tweeted, “I can’t tell the difference between growth, and becoming something I don’t want to be.”

His last tweet came 12 hours before his death: “There’s not a day goes by.”

In an email to students about Villa’s death, Columbia College Dean James Valentini said, “When we lose a member of our community, we are all affected by the loss.

“I know we are united in mourning the loss of such a promising member of our community. We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to Joshua’s family for their terrible loss and ask that you keep them in your thoughts in the days ahead.”

Earlier this afternoon, four detectives left Villa’s dorm room and declined to comment.

In May, the body of Columbia University student Jiwon Lee, 29, was found in the Hudson River after she went missing in April, cops said. The fourth-year dental student’s cell phone was tracked to the George Washington Bridge, prompting speculation that she jumped.

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