News outlets claim that a Florida juvenile has pled guilty to the murder of cheerleader Tristyn Bailey, 13. Bailey was stabbed many times.
CBS 47 reported that 16-year-old Aiden Fucci pleaded guilty on Monday, before jury selection began in his first-degree murder trial in St. Johns County. A 14-year-old named Fucci is accused of murdering 14-year-old Bailey on Mother’s Day, 2021. Fucci allegedly stabbed Bailey 114 times before burying her body in a wooded area near Bailey’s St. Johns house.
When asked if he would want to make a statement to the court, Fucci told News 4 Jax, “I just want to apologise to the Bailey family.” Fucci was offered extra time to judge by Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith, but he refused the offer.
Fucci, although being a minor, is being tried as an adult for first-degree murder. On May 11, 2021, the day after Bailey’s mutilated body was discovered on a retention pond near her house, he was taken into custody.
Murder of Bailey
The murder of Bailey rocked the peaceful St. Johns neighbourhood where she and Fucci went to school at Patriot Oaks. Bailey, the county’s state’s attorney earlier told reporters, died “fighting for her life,” and Fucci, the suspect, allegedly informed others on the night of her murder that he “planned to kill someone by taking them in the woods and stabbing them.”
Source: First Clouse news
According to Larizza, about 49 defensive stab wounds were found on Bailey’s wrists, arms, and face. Eyewitnesses determined that a knife recovered from a pond belonged to Fucci, and the knife’s missing point was subsequently located in Bailey’s brain. Dr. Predrag Bulic, the chief medical examiner, revealed that Bailey’s blood was found on the knife.
During the frantic effort to locate Bailey, Fucci was detained for interrogation. He also shared a photo of himself in a police cruiser around the same time. He asked his followers, “Hey guys has anybody seen Tristyn lately?” in the post’s description.
Bloody clothes was reportedly discovered in Fucci’s bedroom, and the suspect’s account shifted many times while being questioned by police. Crystal Lane Smith, his mother, was also taken into custody and accused of attempting to remove blood stains from her son’s pants before they were taken to the police station.
Sheriff Rob Hardwick said in a statement on Monday that Fucci’s guilty plea “is nothing more than a monument to the hard work and devotion of the excellent men and women of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.” The agency did everything possible. The collective effort here was nothing short of remarkable. St. Johns County residents seldom fail to make an appearance, and this time was no exception.
Hardwick also noted that the Bailey family had displayed “amazing” “strength and grace” during the ordeal. In preparation for sentence, Judge Smith scheduled a hearing on February 23.
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