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The Murder of Tristyn Bailey — A Mother’s Day Nightmare
13-Year-Old Girl Found Murdered by 14-Year-Old Schoolmate — But Why?
On Mother’s Day 2021, the mother and father of Tristyn Bailey experienced a parent’s worst nightmare. Their 13-year-old daughter was missing. Tristyn was last seen shortly after 1 a.m. at the Durbin Amenity Center in St. Johns County, Florida. At dawn, the family, friends, neighbors, and police began searching the area around the recreation center and a nearby veterans park.
At 10 am that same morning, the family formally reported her missing to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Department. Shortly after 6 p.m., the sheriff’s department called off the search. A body that appeared to be Tristyn Bailey had been found at the end of a retention pond in a wooded area near St. Johns. Tristyn had suffered substantial injuries to the head and other trauma. The cause of death has been noted as “sharp force trauma by stabbing.”
Sheriff Rob Hardwick, speaking to television station WJXT, had this to say:
“This is a cold-blooded murder of a 13-year-old young girl who did not deserve to die. That being said, I don’t wanna mention the number of times but it is horrific. It is horrible. And the word accident is nowhere involved in this case.”
A review of video footage from cameras in the area revealed Tristyn walking with a fellow student from Patriot Oaks Academy around 1:45 a.m. and then later, that same student walking by himself with his shoes in his hand. This led police to question 14-year-old Aiden Fucci and search his home for evidence.
Fucci claimed that he had been carrying his shoes because they hurt his feet, so he had removed them. A search of his home revealed blood evidence and other items that tied him to the murder. In his interviews with police, he made several statements that contradicted one another as well as incriminating himself with some admissions that he made.
Fucci has now been charged with second-degree murder, but it is unclear if he will face trial as an adult. If charged as an adult, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Due to the evidence…
