Crimes like this just aren’t supposed to happen in St. Johns County, or any county for that matter: A 13-year-old girl suffers 114 stab wounds by a 14-year-old classmate five years ago this Mother’s Day.
From the way family and friends described Tristyn Bailey and Aiden Fucci, they were polar opposites.
She was the spunky, sassy cheerleader with the big smile and braces, “a light to everybody around her.” She was confident with an extroverted personality and contagious laugh. She loved TikTok, Starbucks coffee, Target and Gucci brand items.
He was the dark, quiet kid with with acne who lacked smarts and motivation. He had a fascination with knives, horror movies and death, even noting that it would be satisfying to slit somebody’s throat. He loved video games and anything with an engine.
Yet the two were friends at Patriot Oaks Academy. Why Fucci did what he did never came out in court or public records other than it was likely a thrill kill, but he pleaded guilty on Feb. 6, 2023, and was sentenced to life in prison that March.
Investigators learned that Fucci told friends he was going to kill someone by taking them into the woods and stabbing them. It is unclear why Tristyn was that someone, if she rejected him or what really happened while they were hanging out that night.
What happened to Tristyn Bailey?
Tristyn was reported missing on May 9, 2021. Evidence revealed that she and Fucci had been at a friend’s home in their Durbin Crossing neighborhood and were last seen walking together about 1 a.m. Seventeen hours later, her body was discovered in the woods nearby.
According to the Medical Examiner’s Office, she had 114 “stab or cutting wounds about her head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and back.” Forty-nine were deemed defensive.
Friends said Fucci was known to always carry a knife and even named two of them named them “Picker” and “Poker.”
“Heinous, atrocious and cruel,” a crime orchestrated for no other reason than to feel what it’s like to kill someone, Judge. R. Lee Smith said during the sentencing. It wasn’t about greed, retaliation, revenge, rejection or some fit of uncontrollable anger, Smith said. “This crime had no motive.”
“It was done for no other reason than to satisfy this defendant’s internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone,” the judge said.
What did Aiden Fucci say about what he did?
Ahead of Fucci’s sentencing, he submitted the following two-page letter to the judge. The misspellings have not been edited, including Tristyn Bailey’s name.
First off I want to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all the pain I caused to the Baily family. I sorry to the friends, brothers, sisters, mom, dad and any other family relatives. I’m sorry that you didn’t get to know her that long. You did not have any long relationships with Tristen and for that I’m sorry.
For the community I’m sorry I brought all this pain on everybody and I’m sorry and I know my apawlogy will not fix anything or bring her back but I hope it help in some way.
And for my dad I’m sorry that he had a bad spot in his work because of me. I miss being out door’s with my dad and brothers. I miss the fun we had like fourwheeling, paintballing, going on the long car trips. Dad your made things fun like the tarp to the fourwheeler so we could slide on the tarp behind. Dad your special because you made fun out of nothing. Love you.
To my mom I want to send my apawlogy’s as well. I’m sorry that she had to move her house because people were sending threats to the house and my family. And that my little brother and sister had to chage school’s because of me. Mom now I miss your lemon peper chicken. I miss your hug’s. I miss you. The longer I’m in her the more I forget the more memories I lose. I’ll never forget you love me.
What did Tristyn Bailey’s family say during the sentencing phase?
During the sentencing phase, Tristyn’s family ― dubbed “The Bailey 7” ― provided emotional and powerful victim impact statements starting with her sister Alexis Bailey. She calculatedly dropped 114 aqua (Tristyn’s favorite color) stone hearts into a glass jar one by one to represent the stab wounds she endured.
The jar would stay there for each family member and Tristyn’s best friend while they read their statements. Each concluded by adding a white stone — in her mother’s case two — to represent something specific to them.
The overriding theme was grief, despair, anger and anxiety.
Stacy Bailey said since her daughter’s smile and irresistible laughter were snuffed out, “I have watched the depression, the PTSD, the anxiety take over so many. … I carry the weight of this on my shoulders every single day.”
She told the judge she keeps a journal and wanted to read some excerpts. She began with waking up at 1:05 a.m. and trying to orient herself and get more sleep. The next entry is at 2:05 a.m. and then 3 a.m., both times chronicling being startled awake.
“Visions flood my head how terrified she must have been,” her mother said. Betrayed by someone she thought was her friend, “he continues to strike, over and over and over … These visions are embedded in my mind. … I pray she passed out, but honestly with the amount of defense wounds, I know she did not. She fought, and our beautiful daughter suffered for so long as he took no mercy in the 114 times he stabbed her.”
Then the trauma migraines come, they always come, she said. “I beg and plead with myself to just stop thinking for five minutes… This is my new normal, every day, all day, my new life sentenced to the torture of my child being murdered.”
Then it’s 3:46 a.m. and then 4:15 a.m. “I can’t control my anxiety. … God, please make this stop, wake me up from this nightmare. … How could you let evil touch her? Why God, why? This is my sleep pattern every night. … I do not recognize the person that’s looking at me in the mirror. … I live in constant brain fog.”
She said her hair is breaking and falling out because of all the anxiety, “and I now have a general fear of being outside in the dark. … My home which was once where we all gathered in comfort is now a place of hurt. … I do not know if we will ever have comfort in our home again.”
“Aiden Fucci, you have destroyed me, you have destroyed my family, you have destroyed Tristyn’s friends, you have destroyed the community we live in.”
She then pleaded with the judge: “Please do not think for one second he can be rehabilitated. He is beyond saving.”
Each member spoke of the same pain, anger and torment, and clearly the judge listened and obliged in his sentencing decision.
Tristyn Bailey Foundation
The family is carrying on her legacy through the Tristyn Bailey Foundation.
The nonprofit was established to honor the vibrant life of Tristyn, who was an inspiration to those around her. She was a loving daughter, sister, and friend; a dedicated student and an avid cheerleader who constantly supported and encouraged others, according to the website.
The foundation’s mission focuses on four pillars of good acts: character development, victim advocacy, self-defense/self-confidence and education on the dangers of social media.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 5 years later the unthinkable case of Aiden Fucci remains a reality
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
