The Murder of Tristyn Bailey and Conviction of Aiden Fucci

In the early morning hours of Sunday, May 9, 2021, 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey of St. Johns, Florida, was murdered by a 14-year-old boy who attended her school, Patriot Oaks Academy.

Because the suspect was a juvenile, early media reports did not name him. After the state determined the suspect would be tried as an adult, however, he was revealed to be Aiden Fucci, an eighth grader who lived less than a mile from Bailey in their “close-knit” neighborhood of Durbin Crossing, a few miles outside of St. Johns.

Bailey had been last seen by her family around midnight on Saturday, May 8. Around 1:15 a.m., Bailey and the suspect were seen on surveillance footage near Durbin Crossing North Amenities Center in Durbin Crossing. Around 1:45 a.m., the two classmates were captured on a home surveillance video walking together along Saddlebrook Drive. The same home captured video at 3:27 a.m. of Fucci walking by himself, shoes in hand.

On Sunday morning, Bailey’s family could not locate her, so they called 911 and reported Bailey missing around 10 a.m. St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office swiftly issued a “Florida Missing Child Alert,” and many families in the Durbin Crossing community went around the neighborhood to look for Bailey. An aviation unit from the sheriff’s office flew overhead to locate the missing girl.

“We saw moms and families out walking the woodline in clothes like church clothes yesterday,” said St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick, on Monday.

The initial search for Bailey during the afternoon of Sunday, May 9, was unsuccessful. But around 6 p.m. that evening, a resident jogging through a remote, wooded area of the community came across a young person’s body near a retention pond. The sheriff’s office was notified and the victim was soon confirmed to be Bailey.

Bailey was found clothed, wearing black sweatpants and a black t-shirt, but the sheriff’s office revealed no initial information about her cause of death or details of the crime scene. Within hours, several crime scenes had been cordoned off, including two homes and the retention pond near where Bailey was found.

Overnight, the suspect was taken into custody and held on a second-degree murder charge. He was detained and moved to a juvenile facility in Volusia County, north of Orlando.

On Monday, May 10, Patriot Oaks Academy—a school with about 1,500 students—reported some 200 absences, many from students who were unable to process what seemed like an unthinkable tragedy in their community.

“We now have two families that are devastated and heartbroken,” wrote Allison Olson, the principal of Patriot Oaks Academy, in an email.

Patriot Oaks Academy offered on-site grief counseling to students who did attend school that day, and throughout the rest of the week. Many students wore white, or aqua—Bailey’s favorite color—to commemorate her life.

On Monday night, a candlelight vigil was held at a park near where Bailey was found, as classmates, family members, and friends gathered to remember her life. Students in aqua t-shirts, some with the hashtag #LLTB—Long Live Tristyn Bailey—circled a growing collection of candles, photos, keepsakes.

As the community found itself reeling from a senseless crime, sheriff Hardwick began the search for answers.

“I don’t think the totality of the circumstances in this case can be easily explained,” he said in an interview several days after Bailey’s murder.

Who was Tristyn Bailey?

Tristyn Bailey was a 13-year-old seventh grader at Patriot Oaks Academy, in St. Johns, Florida. She was the youngest of five children—four sisters and one brother—to Forrest and Stacy Bailey. Together the family referred to themselves as “The Bailey 7.” As the youngest of the group, Tristyn was known as “Baby Bailey.”

Bailey, considered by many a “natural performer,” was a cheerleader for three cheer squads in her community, including a team called Infinity Allstars, which had recently won first-place in an ESPN cheer competition in Orlando. She was also part of the school’s Patriot Oaks Chargers cheerleaders. During a community memorial held after her family’s private funeral, the jacket she wore from the Orlando competition was displayed on stage.

By all accounts, Bailey was known as a charming, extroverted girl. “She was just this amazing person with a love for everyone,” said eighth grader Addison Strumlauf.

“She always was the first to hug me,” said Tanya White, one of Bailey’s cheer coaches. “She was officially my favorite.” Another coach, Jessica Moltisanti, had worked with Bailey since she was seven. “She brought such a bright energy to everything she did,” Moltisanti said, “and she touched so many people around her.”

During her memorial, friends and family shared stories and memories that recalled Bailey’s exuberance and energy. Her sister Brittney remarked on her youngest sister’s “contagious laugh,” and her mother recalled how vocal Bailey had been, starting from day one.

“She was the loudest one in the nursery,” Stacy said.

Forrest shared similar sentiments at Tristyn’s memorial, and attempted to put a positive mindset on the tragedy. “Our love is greater than the evil that can exist in the world,” he said, reminding those in attendance that “when things get difficult and challenging, I want you to hear one more voice in your head. And hear her cheering you on.”

Who is Aiden Fucci?

At the time of the murder, Aiden Fucci was a 14-year-old eighth grader at Patriot Oaks Academy. He was described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 179 pounds. He lived several blocks from Bailey, and knew of the girl, but it wasn’t clear how well they were acquainted. It was not believed that the two had a romantic relationship, and it was never fully clear why Fucci chose Bailey as his victim.

Fucci’s mother was Crystal Lane Smith, 35 at the time of the incident. Within a month of the murder, Smith was charged with tampering with evidence—a third-degree felony in Florida—after investigators discovered video footage from inside the Fucci home of Smith scrubbing blue jeans that were thought to be the pants Fucci wore the night of Bailey’s murder. In July, she pleaded not guilty.

Fucci’s father was Jason Michael Fucci, 36 at the time of the murder. He owned a landscaping business in Jacksonville, and had several convictions on his record. In 2016, he was charged with battery after assaulting a man at a gas station who had allegedly come close to bumping Jason’s son.

Jason was sentenced to anger management classes and six months of probation. As a 19-year-old in 2003, Jason had also been charged with child abuse and related charges when he had consensual relations with a minor.

Timeline of the Crime

On Saturday, May 8, 2021, the Bailey family returned to their home in Durbin Crossing around 11:45 p.m. after going out for dinner and visiting one of the Baileys’ adult siblings. Tristyn Bailey was last seen around midnight by one of her siblings, who assumed she was going to bed.

According to St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reports, Bailey instead left the house and walked to a friend’s home in the neighborhood around 12:30 a.m. This friend was also a friend of Fucci, and had provided Fucci with Bailey’s phone number that night. It was later revealed that Fucci had contacted Bailey and convinced her to leave home just after midnight.

Fucci and Bailey were seen on video footage around 1:15 a.m. near the community’s amenity center, and at 1:45 a.m., they were seen on video walking east Saddlestone Drive—toward the area where Bailey’s body would eventually be found. Just before 3:30 a.m., Fucci was seen on video walking, alone, west on Saddlestone Drive. He had a white pair of shoes in his hands.

When a sibling went to wake up Bailey for Mother’s Day breakfast around 9:40 a.m., the family discovered she was not in bed. They searched the home and nearby area for her, but after no success, called the sheriff’s office around 10 a.m. to report her missing. They posted on social media to spread the word, and went out into the neighborhood to search for Bailey.

Sheriff’s deputies immediately canvassed the private neighborhood and pulled video surveillance footage from several residences. With this footage, officers were able to piece together a rough timeline of her whereabouts in relatively short order. By Sunday afternoon, however, they still had not located Bailey.

The sheriff’s office requested a ping order to locate Bailey’s cell phone, which had been going right to voicemail, but there was no way to locate its precise location. The family used the Life 360 app, but its location-sharing features had been turned off and didn’t provide any useful information.

With video evidence of Fucci and Bailey being seen together, deputies questioned Fucci about what had happened in the early hours of Sunday. When he was first questioned around 4:30 p.m., Fucci’s initial story was that the two had left a mutual friend’s house around 1 a.m., and then parted ways—she walking home and he walking around the neighborhood alone until about 3:00 to 3:30 a.m.

His story soon changed, however. In his second retelling of the events, Fucci said that the two had gotten in an altercation that night, and that Fucci pushed Bailey to the ground after she attempted to grab him. She hit her head, Fucci claimed, and because he was high from smoking marijuana, he walked away and didn’t see if she got up or not.

Fucci also claimed that Bailey may have been in contact with a known drug dealer who operated near the amenity center, apparently a known place for afterhours teenage drug use. When deputies followed up on the lead, however, they found no connection between the supposed drug dealer and what happened in the early hours of May 9.

Throughout the early investigation, Fucci’s behavior was defiant. While he was being held in a police car, on Sunday, for example, he posted on Snapchat: “Hey guys, has inbody [sic] seen Tristyn lately.” A message later retrieved from his phone read: “You were with her Aiden u know what happened to her.”

Just after 6 p.m., a resident jogging through a wooded area near Saddlestone Drive spotted what appeared to be a body. He called the sheriff’s office, and they quickly confirmed the remains to be Bailey. Her body was found about 140 feet from a small retention pond.

With video evidence suggesting the timeline of events, and now with Bailey’s body recovered, the sheriff’s office was ready to move quickly in their investigation.

Evidence and Investigation

Just before 9 p.m. Sunday night, Fucci and his parents, Crystal Smith and Jason Fucci, were placed in an interview room at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. According to their reports, Smith advised Fucci that the room was being recorded, and both parents “advised Aiden to find his story and stick to it.”

Smith revealed to her son that they had found Bailey’s body. “How is it my problem?” Aiden asked. His parents told him that according to what they knew, he was the last person to be seen with the teenager. They asked if there was anything on the clothes that he wore that night that might be evidence of a crime, and he said there was not.

Perhaps already aware that her son may have been in legal trouble, Smith had gone into Fucci’s room that afternoon, and around 1 p.m., had taken his jeans and scrubbed them in the bathroom for some time. A search of the home would later reveal dirt and blood traces in the bathroom where she’d attempted to clean the pants.

While in the interview room waiting for detectives, Jason Fucci typed something on this phone and handed it to Fucci. They did this several times as a way to “subvert investigative efforts” read a later sheriff’s report.

Around 12:45 a.m., investigators began searching the Fucci home, where they found Fucci’s clothing from Saturday night, including a wet t-shirt, wet blue jeans, and a pair of white Nike shoes. There appeared to be traces of blood on the clothing, though it would take time to determine where it had come from.

Deputies also recovered eight pocket knives, several homemade “shanks,” and a number of graphic drawings that Fucci was well-known for creating. Some of them depicted violent scenes and “depicted a Satanic element.” The search also revealed marijuana paraphernalia, and a towel with possible traces of blood.

With this evidence, Fucci was arrested at 3:30 a.m. and charged with second-degree murder.

Few initial details were revealed about the murder, but within days, the St. Johns County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that Bailey’s official cause of death was due to “sharp force trauma by stabbing.” Bailey had suffered from 114 stab wounds to her body—most of which were defensive, on her hands, arms, and head.

The tip of the knife used to attack Bailey was found in her body during an autopsy.

“Based on the nature of the injuries,” read the sheriff’s office report, “it appeared the suspect was standing behind Tristyn and came at a downward angle.” Her time of death was narrowed down to between 1:45 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.

The medical examiner also found, on the inside of Bailey’s left ankle, the word “karma,” written in blue ink. On her right ankle was a small smiley face. It wasn’t known who drew the two markings, and if they had occurred at school or on the night of the murder.

A judge ordered Fucci to be held without bond for 21 days, giving the state time to decide if he would be tried as an adult or a juvenile. After the medical report, however, the state’s attorneys revealed that the graphic severity of the attack would mean that Fucci would now face an adult charge, and it would be escalated to first-degree murder.

“The bottom line is that premeditation could be inferred certainly from just the sheer number of stab wounds that TB had to suffer,” said R.J. Larizza, state attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit. “Every time that arm went back, and every time that arm went down, that was premeditation.”

This is what many in the community—and state—expected. By late May, just weeks after the murder, a petition on change.org had more than 700,000 signatures all requesting Fucci be tried as an adult.

Fucci had been detained at Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Volusia County, but after the state announced that he would be tried as an adult, he was moved to a juvenile wing of an adult facility in St. Johns County.

“The adult system is where this case belongs,” Larizza said.

During the investigation, authorities soon pieced together more of the scene that took place near Saddlestone Drive. A knife was found in the retention pond near Bailey’s body, and was matched to a sheath found in Fucci’s home.

According to one witness, a friend of Fucci’s, he routinely brought two knives to school and nicknamed them “Picker” and “Poker.” The knife in the pond, according to the witness, was the one Fucci called “Poker.”

Other witnesses, including Fucci’s girlfriend, reported that he often talked about death and killing. On more than one occasion in the weeks and months leading up to Bailey’s murder, Fucci mentioned to friends that he “intended to kill someone by taking them in the woods and stabbing them,” reported one witness.

His girlfriend claimed that Fucci said he heard voices when he was angry, and they told him to commit violent acts. He had never acted upon these, reports claimed, but his girlfriend said that he would “mock” stab her as a joke. Multiple friends of Fucci heard and saw his behaviors, but none believed they were legitimate threats.

While in custody, Fucci didn’t present any signs of mental illness, though he did get into multiple altercations with other inmates while he awaited trial. On more than one occasion, he had to be pepper sprayed or detained for various infractions, including threatening guards and inmates, bullying others into giving up their commissary items, and possessing contraband.

In June 2021, Crystal Smith was charged with tampering with evidence for washing Fucci’s jeans on Sunday afternoon. She pleaded not guilty to the felony charge, which carried a potential for five years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine. She was released on bail shortly after surrendering to the sheriff’s office. She would eventually plead no contest to tampering with evidence and was sentenced to 30 days in jail with five years of probation.

As the investigation continued, the blood found on Fucci’s clothing and shoes matched Bailey’s DNA. The knife found in the retention pond was also confirmed to be the same blade that was used to attack Bailey. Within months, the state attorney’s office and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office investigators had enough evidence to move forward.

The Court Case

In June 2021, Fucci had pleaded not guilty to his murder charge. Because of the unusual aspects of the case, and with more than 200 witnesses to process, his trial wasn’t scheduled to begin until the following year. In August 2022, his defense requested the judge limit media access to the proceedings, and wanted the autopsy photos to be unavailable to the jury.

Both these motions were denied, and Judge R. Lee Smith also denied a later motion to move the trial’s venue. The judge did grant the prosecution’s request to a six-person jury, however, as the state argued that Fucci’s was not a capital case, because of his age, and didn’t require 12 jurors. The trial was eventually scheduled for February 2023.

On Monday, February 6, 2023—the same morning jury selection for his trial was scheduled to begin—Fucci pleaded guilty to the murder of Tristyn Bailey. “I just want to say I plead guilty and I’m sorry for the Bailey family and my family,” he said to the judge.

The plea was positively received by St. Johns County Sheriff Hardwick, as well as the Bailey family. “This was an all out agency effort,” Hardwick said. “The trial preparation process is just as tedious as the investigation itself. The detectives have not stopped working this case since the initial call we received.”

Stacy Bailey, Tristyn’s mother, praised the prosecutor’s office for their commitment to justice. “Just as Tristyn fought for her life,” read the family’s statement, “we equally fought for her and would not agree to any plea deal. We were fully aligned with the prosecutor in rejecting the proposed plea deals mentioned by the public defender during the plea hearing.”

In March, Fucci and his parents submitted letters to the judge, and a sentencing hearing lasting two days took into account statements from each family. “Most of all, I grieve for Stacy Bailey as a mother,” wrote Crystal Smith in her letter to the court. During the sentencing hearing, one of Tristyn’s sisters, Alexis, dropped 114 aqua-colored stone hearts into a jar, mirroring the number of times her sister had been stabbed.

On Friday, March 24, 2023, Fucci was sentenced to life in prison. Under Florida law, the sentence could be reviewed by a judge in 25 years (Fucci’s defense was seeking a 40-year sentence). In explaining his reasoning, Judge R. Lee Smith called the crime one of the most heinous he had seen in his career.

“This case is probably the most difficult and shocking case that this county, St. Johns County, has dealt with,” Smith said. “It was done for no other reason than to satisfy this defendant’s internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.”

Nearly two years had passed since Bailey’s death, and with a conviction and life sentence in place, her family was ready to move to their next stage of healing.

“In the days ahead, we’re going to talk more about Tristyn and plans to continue her legacy,” said her father. “We will always be the Bailey 7.”

Today, the Tristyn Bailey Foundation offers assistance to families and young people through a focus on character development, self-defense, victim advocacy, and awareness of the dangers of social media.

FAQs

What was the motive behind Tristyn Bailey’s murder?

No definitive motive was ever established for Tristyn Bailey’s murder. During the investigation and court proceedings, Fucci didn’t provide a clear explanation for why he killed the teenager.

Testimony from multiple witnesses, including Fucci’s friends, indicated that he had previously spoken about wanting to kill someone in the woods, but did not articulate a specific reason why. At sentencing, Judge R. Lee Smith stated that the evidence suggested the crime was driven by Fucci’s desire to commit an act of violence rather than by any specific motive.

How did the community respond to Tristyn Bailey’s death?

The community of Durbin Crossing, and St. Johns, showed immense support for the Bailey family after the murder. Aqua bows, ribbons, and signs were common in their neighborhood, and numerous families offered the Baileys help with meals and other needs during the two-year investigation and criminal proceedings.

Forrest and Stacy Bailey offered continual gratitude and praise to their community for helping them get through their ordeal.

Where is Aiden Fucci now?

Today, Fucci is serving his life sentence at Cross City Correctional Institution in Cross City, Florida. In July 2025, Fucci lost an appeal filed by his defense team in 2023.

Watch & Listen: Additional Reporting

This list includes additional reporting and documentaries from established media outlets. Inclusion does not imply endorsement of any specific narrative or production approach.

• First Coast News - Remembering Tristyn Bailey
  A memorable interview with Forrest Bailey, Tristyn’s father, who continues remembering her legacy.

• Murder Under the Friday Night Lights - Monster Among Trolls
  Investigation Discovery show that focuses on social media’s role in Bailey’s murder investigation.

• Anatomy of a Murder - Walking in the Night - Part 1 (Tristyn Bailey)
  Two-part podcast on Bailey’s murder and the investigation that followed.

Sources & Documentation

• The Florida Times-Union, May 11, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, May 12, 2021

• Orlando Sentinel, May 12, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, May 17, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, May 20, 2021

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, May 21, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, May 25, 2021

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, May 28, 2021

• The Palm Beach Post, June 5, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, June 6, 2021

• Northwest Florida Daily News, June 7, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, July 15, 2021

• Florida Today, July 18, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, July 27, 2021

• The Florida Times-Union, October 29, 2021

• Orlando Sentinel, October 31, 2021

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, May 9, 2022

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, August 18, 2022

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, February 6, 2023

• Orlando Sentinel, February 7, 2023

• Tallahassee Democrat, February 8, 2023

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, February 8, 2023

• The Daytona Beach News-Journal, March 26, 2023

• South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 26, 2023

• Tristyn Bailey Foundation, Inc. (n.d.). Our community, our mission. Tristyn Bailey Foundation. https://tbstrong.org

• St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. Incident report narrative by Officer Kurt Hannon, May 9, 2021. Obtained via DocumentCloud. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20996650-incident-report-from-ofc-kurt-hannon/

• Florida Department of Corrections. Inmate search records for Aiden Fucci. Accessed Dec. 16, 2025.

• First Coast News, “Aiden Fucci’s life sentence stands for murder in St. Johns County, even after appeal,” July 19, 2025, https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/aiden-fucci-life-sentence-murder-in-st-johns-county-appeal/77-29e48170-50d9-4131-aaf8-9f38511506b