Who are Tristyn Bailey’s parents?
SLAIN 13-year-old teenager, Tristyn Bailey, was last seen on May 9, 2021, and was reported missing by her family hours before her body was found.
After pleading guilty to her murder in February 2023, Aiden Fucci was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, March 24, 2023.
Who are Tristyn Bailey’s parents?
In May 2021, Tristyn Bailey’s parents, Stacy and Forrest, held a ceremony to honor Bailey’s life at Celebration Church in Jacksonville, .
The family is devastated by the sudden loss of the teenager, with Stacy promising to keep her daughter’s memory alive.
In the ceremony, Stacy said: “I was going to make her name shine above all the evil that has happened.”
She described Bailey as a goal-getter, saying: “She had a drive in her soul to be the best and always give 100-percent to achieve her goals.”
Both she and Forrest thanked the community for their support as they endured the loss of their daughter, and stood on stage with the rest of their family -- known as the Bailey 7.
What happened to Tristyn Bailey?
Bailey was last seen in St. Johns, Florida, on the Sunday morning of May 9, 2021, after being reported missing by her family around 10am.
Her body was found by a neighbor in the woods near her Durbin Crossing home.
Florida State Attorney RJ Larizza released an update regarding the case on Thursday, May 27, 2021, saying that Bailey's body was stabbed 114 times, with 49 of those wounds sustained to her hands and arms.
Larizza described those wounds as "defensive", and said that Bailey suffered them as she "fought for her life."
Fellow Patriot Oaks Academy student Aiden Fucci, then-14 years old, was taken into custody on May 10, 2021, and held at the Juvenile Justice Department.
Larizza refused to disclose whether the killing was sexually motivated, or whether Bailey had been sexually assaulted during the murder.
He also confirmed that investigators recovered what they believe to be the murder weapon: a folding buck knife, which was recovered in the pond next to Bailey's body.
He said the blade was "missing a tip", which medical examiners later recovered from her scalp.
What was Aiden Fucci charged with?
Fucci faced first-degree murder charges and was tried as an adult.
He was represented by a public defender instead of his original attorney, who withdrew from the case with a judge's permission on May 21, 2021.
Fucci previously faced second-degree murder charges but they were upped on May 27, 2021.
On March 24, 2023, he was sentenced to life in prison, with Judge Lee Smith calling the crime "the most difficult and shocking case" St. Johns County has ever seen.