St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick announced Monday morning that the body found in the woods near Durbin Crossing just after 6 p.m. Sunday is that of Tristyn Bailey, and a fellow student at her school has been arrested and charged with her murder.
WJCT News partner News4Jax reports that a 14-year-old boy, was taken into custody overnight and is now charged with second-degree murder. He is in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story identified the murder suspect by name. WJCT News has chosen to remove that identification because the suspect is a minor and has not been charged as an adult.
“We have a suspect arrested and, unfortunately, a 13-year-old girl dead,” Hardwick said.
Hardwick said the investigation doesn’t stop with the arrest, with multiple crime scenes being processed. There are no other suspects connected to her death at this time.
He would not discuss the cause of death but did say Tristyn’s body was fully clothed when she was found. Hardwick said it is possible charges against the 14-year-old could be upgraded in consultation with the State Attorney’s Office.
Hardwick added there is a lot of false information floating around on social media. His team is collecting everything out there that could be leads in this case.
Read the rest of this story on News4Jax.com.
UPDATED STATEMENT RE MISSING CHILD: pic.twitter.com/qfji7m9y4p
— SJSO (@SJSOPIO) May 10, 2021
