Florida teenager learns fate for fatally stabbing 13-year-old cheerleader on Mother's Day

A judge on Friday sentenced deranged Florida teenager Aiden Fucci, 16, to life in prison for butchering a 13-year-old classmate for no other reason than an "internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone."

Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith could have sentenced Fucci to as little as 40 years for stabbing Tristyn Bailey 114 times, calling the crime "heinous, atrocious and cruel."

More than 50 family members and friends packed the St. Johns County courtroom — many dabbing their eyes with tissues during the proceeding. 

The judge described Tristyn's horrific injuries, including 49 defensive wounds, 35 wounds to her head and neck and 29 to her back and shoulder.  

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"Tristyn Bailey was conscious, she was aware and she was doing everything she could to fend off this attack," Smith told the court, as Fucci, 16, sat stone-faced at the defense table. "She suffered a painful, horrifying death from someone that she trusted. Her screams were most likely stifled by her own suffocating lungs." 

The tip of the hunting knife Fucci used to kill her broke off in her skull.

Tristyn's heartbroken parents, Stacy and Forrest Bailey, and three of her four siblings listened in the gallery to the disturbing account of the May 9, 2021, attack.

"This crime had no motive," the judge said. "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."

Fucci pleaded guilty in February on the eve of his trial to one count of first-degree murder for the killing on Mother's Day. 

He left Tristyn's body in a wooded area less than a mile from his home in an upscale suburb in north Florida.

Fucci was tried as an adult but was not eligible for the death penalty because he committed the crime when he was 14.

The sentence was handed down after a two-day hearing that featured experts and victim impact statements from Tristyn's family and friends.

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Stacy begged the judge through sobs Wednesday to give Fucci the maximum for killing her youngest child. "Please do not for one second think that he could be rehabilitated at any point. He is beyond saving," she said. 

The victim's sister, Alexis Bailey, told the court that her life would never be the same.

"Our family broke that day and I don't recognize any of us anymore," she said. 

In a March 12 handwritten letter to Smith released Thursday, Fucci apologized for the savage attack on the bubbly cheerleader, who was known for her kindness and love of animals.

"First off, I want to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused to the Baily (sic) family. I sorry to the friends, brothers, sisters, mom, dad and any other family relatives," he wrote. 

During a press conference after the sentencing, Forrest rejected Fucci's apology, noting that at no point were the teenager's actions in court in line with a man who was remorseful. 

Forrest thanked State Attorney RJ Larizza, the prosecutors on the case, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and the community for their support before speaking directly to his slain daughter. 

"Tristyn, I want to let you know that we are so extremely proud of the person that you were," he said through tears. "With respect to what you mean to our family, it’s in our hearts. There are no words. We love you. We will continue to hold you in our hearts, and we will always be the Bailey seven."

The horrific slaying has deeply shaken the tight-knit community in St. Johns County, about 30 miles south of Jacksonville. 

Bailey, a competitive cheerleader, attended Patriot Oaks Academy alongside Fucci. On the night of her murder, she was hanging out with Fucci and another classmate after sneaking out of her house.

She was last seen alive on surveillance video walking with Fucci at 1:45 a.m. on a quiet street in the Durban Crossing neighborhood toward a wooded area near a pond. About two hours later, Fucci was seen carrying his Nike sneakers in his arms as he returned to his home.

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The next morning, Mother's Day, her family realized she was not in her room and reported her missing. Hours later, a jogger came upon her body near a pond.

After deputies with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office took Fucci in for questioning, he recorded a disturbing Snapchat video of himself in the back of a police car. "Having fun in a f---ing cop car," he says, including the sinister caption, "Hey guys has anyone seen Tristyn lately?"

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Fucci's friends later told investigators that he fantasized about violence and murder in the weeks before the slaying, saying he was going to kill someone in the next month.

Under Florida law, Fucci is eligible for parole after 25 years.