Holly MatkinSt. Johns, FL – Prosecutors released a slew of new evidence against a 14-year-old boy accused of brutally murdering a 13-year-old cheerleader by stabbing her 114 times and leaving her to die in the woods on Mother’s Day.
Surveillance footage released Tuesday showed 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey walking next to her alleged killer, 14-year-old Aiden Fucci, as they headed towards a wooded area of their neighborhood shortly after midnight on May 9, the New York Post reported.
Investigators said it is the last time Bailey was seen alive.
According to police, security footage captured Fucci running away from the wooded area more than an hour later, the New York Post reported.
Bailey was reported missing by her family later that day, and police found her body in the wooded area a short while later.
The teen had been stabbed 114 times, to include 49 defensive wounds to her head, arms, and hands.
The medical examiner located the broken point of a knife lodged in the dead teen’s skull, WTLV reported.
Someone had also drawn a smiley face on the inside of her right ankle, according to the New York Post.
The word “karma” had been written inside her left ankle.
Investigators found Fucci’s DNA on her body, the Independent reported.
Just released video shows what police say is Aiden Fucci and Tristyn Bailey walking east in their Durbin Crossing neighborhood in St. Johns County on the night she was stabbed to death. Police say this is the last time she was seen alive. @FCN2go pic.twitter.com/GhimsS9ZiM
— anne schindler (@schindy) August 24, 2021
Prosecutors also released surveillance footage from inside Fucci’s home that allegedly showed his mother, 35-year-old Crystal Smith, washing blood out of his jeans after Bailey was stabbed to death, according to the New York Post.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office (SJCSO) previously said the video showed Smith going into her son’s bedroom after he was arrested and picking up a pair of his jeans, WTLV reported.
Smith scrubbed her son’s pants and returned them to his bedroom, where they were later located by investigators, according to her arrest report.
The clothing and a drain in the house both tested positive for the presence of blood, the sheriff’s office said.
Smith turned herself in to the SJCSO in June on a charge of tampering with evidence, WTLV reported.
She was released on a $25,000 bond less than two hours later.
Prosecutors also released three Snapchat videos showing Fucci in the back of a patrol car, the New York Post reported.
The videos were allegedly made while officers were out searching for Bailey.
One video showed Fucci and a friend in the back of a patrol car while Fucci smiled into the camera, the Independent reported.
“We’re having fun, in a f—king cop car,” he quipped. “Tristyn if you f—king walk out the damn…”
Fucci’s friend then said Bailey would “see this in a month,” the Independent reported.
Another video showed the accused killer alone in a patrol car.
“Guess who’s in a f—king cop car…tripping, dude,” he said.
According to court documents, Fucci allegedly told a classmate at Patriot Oaks Academy prior to Bailey’s death that he wanted to “murder someone,” the New York Post reported.
“[He said] he would find a random person walking at night, drag them into the woods, and stab them,” the friend allegedly told police, recounting a conversation she said she had with Fucci.
He even allegedly had plans to become a serial killer.
“He would act innocent after the murder and continue killing people,” the friend said of Fucci’s plan, according to police.
After pulling off the initial killing, he said he planned to “run away, make people believe he was dead, and continue killing people,” the friend allegedly told investigators.
“Aiden always carried a knife with him” and would “would surprise [his friend] from behind, put the knife to her throat, and pretend to slit her throat,” investigators said, recounting the information Fucci’s friend provided them, according to the New York Post.
She allegedly told officers Fucci “claimed to hear voices in his head” telling him “to kill people when he was angry,” the New York Post reported.
Investigators said they found “violent” drawings of women in Fucci’s home, and the friend noted he would often “draw graphic pictures depicting mutilated bodies” the Independent reported.
Another female friend allegedly told police Fucci was “the textbook definition of what you what call a numb kid. He has no feelings towards anyone,” according to the New York Post.
“[He] is the type of person you would see as a murderer,” the friend said, according to investigators. “He just doesn’t care.”
Police said when they questioned Fucci about Bailey’s murder, he claimed he had gotten into a fight with her and that he shoved her to the ground, WTLV reported.
Fucci allegedly told police Bailey hit her head.
Investigators later recovered the suspected murder weapon from a retention pond near Fucci’s residence and seized bloody clothing from his home, WTLV reported.
Bailey was killed with a hunting knife, according to People.
Judge reading 2nd degree murder charge to Aiden Fucci as he fights back tears. He is charged with the 2nd degree murder of #TristynBailey pic.twitter.com/k6jgfh113L
— Bridgette Matter (@Bmatternews) May 11, 2021
When Fucci was alone in an interview room at the sheriff’s office with his parents, they allegedly “asked him about anything that would be on his clothes” from when he was out with Bailey, according to deputies.
The teen allegedly told his parents he was wearing jeans, at which point Smith asked him if he was sure nothing was on them, WKMG reported.
“I think so, why?” Fucci allegedly asked, according to deputies.
Investigators said his mother gave him a “questioning” look before whispering, “blood,” WKMG reported.
Fucci was charged with second-degree murder as a juvenile, but the case was bumped into adult court on May 27, when a grand jury indicted him for first-degree premeditated murder, WTLV reported.
He faces up to life in prison if he is convicted.
Fucci pleaded not guilty to the charge on June 3, according to People.
Pretrial hearings for Smith and Fucci are scheduled to begin in September, the Independent reported.
