Kelsy Serrano
Professor Margaryan
Crj 102-110W
3 March 2024
Tristyn Bailey Case
Thirteen-year-old Tristyn Bailey was discovered dead on May 9, 2021, Mother’s Day, several hours after her family had reported her missing. She’d been slashed and stabbed several times. Bailey’s killing led to the arrest of 14-year-old Aiden Fucci on charges of first-degree murder. Just before the jury was chosen in February 2023, Fucci entered a guilty plea. Judge R. Lee Smith sentenced him to life in prison on March 24.
Tristyn Bailey was one of Stacy and Forrest Bailey’s five daughters. She was a cheerleader at Patriot Oaks Academy and attended Patriot Oaks Academy in Durbin Crossing, northwest St. Johns County. Bailey’s neighbor and fellow Patriot Oaks student Fucci was alleged to have talked of murdering people, including pulling a stranger into the woods and stabbing them.
Fucci’s girlfriend and acquaintances were disturbed by his conduct even though he had no past criminal record. Fucci talked Bailey into leaving her house to come see him the night before she passed away. They were seen in the video together, and then Fucci returned by himself while carrying his shoes. Bailey had 114 stab or cutting wounds, 49 of which were defensive, according to an autopsy.
At first, Fucci said that during an argument, he and Bailey fell and Bailey hurt her head. But since the evidence suggested that Fucci had planned the murder, he was charged as an adult. A Snapchat message from Fucci during Bailey’s disappearance sparked suspicion. Fucci’s culpability was further supported by evidence recovered beside her body, including blood-stained damp clothes, violent drawings, and a knife that matched a shard in Bailey’s scalp.
Although they didn’t take his threats seriously, Fucci’s fiancée and pals revealed his fixation with knives and violent tendencies. When Crystal Lane Smith, Fucci’s mother, tried to clean Fucci’s blood-stained clothes, she was charged with tampering with evidence.
Fucci was charged as an adult, but because he was still a minor, he was not allowed to be executed. According to Florida law, he was given a life sentence with the opportunity of review after 25 years.
Judge Smith ruled that Fucci’s acts were “heinous, atrocious, and cruel,” pointing out that Bailey had put her trust in her attacker and that there was no apparent motivation. After that, Fucci was moved to Suwannee Correctional Institution, located in Live Oak. Smith was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation after entering a plea of not guilty to tampering with evidence.
Work Cited
Graphic: Gruesome details released in murder of Tristyn Bailey
‘Unforgivable’: Mother Scolds Teen Killer Who Stole Tristyn Bailey from Her Family and Friends
