Aiden Fucci received a life sentence Friday in the slaying of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey, a 13-year-old classmate who was stabbed more than 100 times on Mother's Day 2021.
Circuit Court Judge R. Lee Smith said there was “only one appropriate sentence” for a murder that he said was not a crime of passion — only an attempt to feel what it was like to kill someone.
As Fucci was led from the courtroom, Tristyn's mother sobbed in her husband's arms as they sat in the front row of the courtroom.
Fucci pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, admitting to stabbing Tristyn in a wooded area in the Durbin Crossing neighborhood of St. Johns County. An autopsy concluded the teenage girl had been stabbed 144 times.
Tristyn's body was found just hours after she was reported missing on May 9 2021. Fucci, a classmate of Tristyn's who lived in her neighborhood, was arrested the same day.
Medical experts, as well as Tristyn’s and Fucci’s families, testified earlier in the week during the sentencing phase of his case. Tristyn’s mother, Stacy Bailey, told the judge that Fucci made a "heinous decision" and ended "the very life that I brought into this world.” Fucci “is beyond saving,” she said.
Fucci’s attorneys had asked for a 40-year prison sentence. A death sentence was not an option because Fucci is a juvenile. A judge can review his sentence after he serves 25 years.
Fucci and his defense attorneys have 30 days to appeal the sentence, the judge said. Fucci will be transferred to Florida State Prison in Starke to begin serving his sentence.
