Murder of Tristyn Bailey
Tristyn Bailey in 2021
LocationSt. Johns County, Florida, U.S.
DateMay 9, 2021 (2021-05-09)
Attack type
Child murder by stabbing with a knife
WeaponsKnife
VictimTristyn Bailey
PerpetratorAiden Fucci
MotiveNone
VerdictGuilty
ConvictionsFirst-degree murder
SentenceLife imprisonment without the possibility of parole
JudgeR. Lee Smith

Tristyn Tyne Bailey (January 18, 2008 – May 9, 2021) was a 13-year-old American middle school student and cheerleader from St. Johns County, Florida, who was murdered by her 14-year-old classmate Aiden Fucci. On the morning of May 9, 2021, on Mother's Day, Bailey was reported missing by her family. Later that day, Bailey's stabbed body was found by a resident in a wooded area near St. Johns. Bailey's body had 114 stab wounds. Video footage from cameras recorded Bailey walking around 1:45 a.m. with Fucci. Another recording showed Fucci walking alone with his shoes in hand. This led investigators to go to Fucci's house to look for evidence.[1][2]

On May 10, investigators searched Fucci's house, where bloody clothes were found in the room and in the bathroom sink. A knife with a fragment of the tip missing was found near Bailey's body, matching DNA to Bailey and Fucci. He was arrested on charges of Tristyn Bailey's murder. He maintained his innocence at the time.[2]

In February 2023, shortly before his trial, Fucci changed his plea from innocent to guilty. On March 24, Aiden Fucci was charged as an adult and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He is currently serving his sentence at Suwannee Correctional Institution.[3]

Background

Tristyn Tyne Bailey was born in Singapore[4] on January 18, 2008, to Forrest and Stacy Bailey. She was the youngest of five siblings.

Family and friends describe her as "an energetic young girl who always stood up for her friends." Her mother said: "She was just a powerful child that was able to give a lot to so many".[5][6][7] Tristyn grew up and lived in St. Johns County, Florida. She was in seventh grade at Patriot Oaks Academy, where she stood out as an athletic and popular student and member of cheer squad.[8]

Disappearance and investigation

On the early morning of May 9, 2021, according to police reports, Doffis "Tre" Absher, a friend of Fucci, said he asked for Bailey's phone number. Fucci called Bailey and convinced her to leave home to go see a friend. At 1:45 a.m., a residential surveillance camera records two people walking east on Saddlestone Drive, strongly believed to be Fucci and Bailey.[2] At 3:27 a.m., the residential surveillance camera records a subject this time running towards the west, carrying a pair of white shoes.[9]

At 9:00 a.m., the Bailey family was preparing to celebrate Mother's Day. One of Bailey's siblings went to her room to wake her up, and discovered that Bailey was missing. After a short search of the immediate surrounding area her mother, Stacy, called 911 to report her daughter missing.[9]

Deputies Robert Maloney and Liam Stack interviewed Absher later that afternoon. Absher said that Fucci and Bailey had been at his house and left together.[9] Fucci confirmed being with Bailey at Absher's home and stated that they left around 1:10 a.m. He originally claimed to have walked with Tristyn along North Durbin Parkway until she turned onto Cloisterbane Drive to go home. He stated that he walked around for some time and then arrived home at approximately 3:30 a.m. Noting that the distance between Absher and Fucci's home is a roughly 30 minute walk, investigators pressed for details.[2][9] At this point, Fucci changed his story, stating that he and Bailey got into an altercation after she attempted to touch his penis. He claimed to have pushed her away, which caused her to fall and hit her head.[9][10]

After the interrogation, Fucci took some images and videos with a friend in the back seat of a patrol car, publishing the imagery on the social media app Snapchat. In one picture, Fucci captioned an image: "Hey guys has inybody [sic] seen Tristyn lately". Another video he said: "We're having fun, in a fucking cop car."[11][2]

Discovery of body

Around 6:00 p.m. on May 9, a resident was walking through a wooded area at the end of Saddlestone Drive, south of Jacksonville. Upon reaching a retention pond, he found the stabbed body of a girl. Around 8:00 p.m., it was confirmed that the body belonged to Tristyn Bailey.[11] She had received 114 stab wounds, 49 of which were defensive.[2][11] Her body was found with the word "karma" written on the inside of her left ankle, and a smiley face drawn on her right ankle, but it is not known who wrote it.[12]

A Buck knife with a missing tip found in the pond near her body matched a fragment lodged in Bailey's scalp. Fucci's DNA was also found on the knife.[2][11][13]

Arrest

On the midnight of May 10, the police went to Fucci's house to look for evidence. In his room they found a sheath that matched the knife found near Bailey's body and clothing with blood on it. Around 3:00 a.m. Fucci was arrested for second-degree murder, but this was changed to first-degree murder after further examination of evidence and witness accounts. During a press conference on May 27, State Attorney RJ Larizza said Fucci told his friends he was going to kill someone by "taking them to the woods and stabbing them". Larizza also stated Fucci told his friends to expect [the murder] to happen within a month, and that Bailey was stabbed 114 times. Fucci was subsequently transferred to Duval County Jail, where he was held without bond. His mother Crystal Smith was arrested for tampering with evidence after allegedly washing blood off Fucci's jeans, but was later released.[3][5][11]

A police report released by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in July 2021 revealed that Fucci often spoke of his "fantasy" of killing people, that he often carried a knife with him, and that he planned to "drag a random person into the woods and stab them". Another friend said that on occasion Fucci "would take his knife out and pretend to stab 'her' with it." The same friend said that Fucci claimed to hear voices in his head when he was angry.[12][14]

Trial

Shortly before his jury selection was set to begin, on February 6, 2023, Fucci had changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. He wrote a letter apologizing for the pain he caused Bailey's family and friends. Judge R. Lee Smith called this the most "difficult and shocking case" that he had presided over, adding "this was not done out of greed; it was not done in retaliation, retribution, or revenge; it was not a crime of passion; it was not a crime that was committed because he felt rejected by her, it was not done in a fit of uncontrollable anger. There was no reason. There was no purpose. It was done for no other reason than to satisfy this defendant's internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone."[15]

Fucci was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Bailey. He was given a maximum sentence of life in prison on March 24, 2023, at age 16. After 25 years of his sentence, he is obligated to have a case review.[3][15]

Tristyn Bailey Memorial Foundation

Bailey's family formed the Tristyn Bailey Memorial Foundation, which helped enact a law in the state of Florida that restricts the disclosure of crime scene photographs of any minor who has been murdered in the state.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Murder of Tristyn Bailey — A Mother's Day Nightmare". Medium. May 14, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Aiden Fucci stabbed 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey 114 times". The Florida Times-Union. March 23, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Teen sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing Florida cheerleader 114 times". NBC News. March 24, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  4. ↑ Schindler, Anne (March 22, 2023). "'Aiden Fucci, you have destroyed me': Tristyn Bailey's mother offers anguished testimony". First Coast News. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Timeline: Events in the disappearance, death of Florida 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey". St. Augustine Record. May 7, 2022. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Florida murder case: Teen gets life sentence in brutal death of Tristyn Bailey, 13. Everything to know". USA Today. March 25, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Parents of Tristyn Bailey reflect on her legacy and the legal process in her case". Action News Jax. April 4, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Sea of aqua: Tristyn Bailey remembered at Patriot Oaks homecoming game". News 4 Jax. October 13, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "New documents detail timeline of events in Tristyn Bailey murder investigation". First Coast News. July 14, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  10. ↑ Planas, Antonio (March 24, 2023). "Teen sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing Florida cheerleader 114 times". NBC News. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Hurley, Bevan (March 24, 2023). "Tristyn Bailey was stabbed 114 times in an unspeakable murder. A Snapchat selfie caught her killer classmate". The Independent. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Friends told police teen fantasized about killing and drew mutilated bodies before allegedly murdering teen". The Independent. July 15, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Photos of knife allegedly used in stabbing of Tristyn Bailey made public". First Coast News. February 4, 2023 [2023-02-03]. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Witnesses in Tristyn Bailey homicide case say Aiden Fucci talked about stabbing someone to death". The Daytona Beach News Journal. July 14, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  15. 1 2 Alonso, Melissa; Sottile, Zoe (March 24, 2023). "Florida teen sentenced to life in prison after stabbing classmate to death more than 100 times". ABC7 Chicago. CNN Wire. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Tristyn Bailey Memorial Foundation helps change Florida law". First Coast News. May 16, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
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