Teenage killer Aiden Fucci, 16, who stabbed 13-year-old cheerleader and schoolmate Tristyn Bailey 114 times, has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of his twisted “desire to feel what it was like to kill”.
Fucci, who was 14 at the time, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder admitting to the gruesome stabbing that took place at the end of a cul-de-sac in a quiet Durbin Crossing neighborhood in St Johns, Florida, in 2021.
Emotions ran high as Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith handed down the sentence: Bailey’s family could not hold back tears in court.
Because he is a minor, the Florida teen is ineligible for the death penalty and has 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision. He will also be able to review his sentence in 25 years.
Teen murderer Aiden Fucci (left), 16, who stabbed his 13-year-old schoolmate and cheerleader Tristyn Bailey 114 times, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Emotions ran high as Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith handed down the sentence: Bailey’s family could not hold back tears in court
Surveillance footage previously showed Fucci and Bailey walking down a dark residential street together moments before her death as they headed into the woods. Fucci was then seen running barefoot alone around 2 a.m.
“Tristyn Bailey was conscious, she was conscious and she was doing everything she could to defend herself against this attack,” Judge Smith said.
“She suffered a painful and horrible death from someone she trusted.”
Judge Smith revealed his decision on Friday morning, saying there was only “one appropriate sentence in this case” before he shared the ruling.
Judge Smith said he took into account the age, mental health, home life and letters from the Fucci boy’s family, as well as the fact that he was the “sole participant” and was “100 percent responsible for this murder.”
He added that he believed there would be a “poor prognosis for rehabilitation” and acknowledged the “compelling” statements from the victims made earlier in the week.
During sentencing on Friday, Judge Smith said this had been one of the “most difficult and shocking cases” in the country that he had witnessed in his 16 years of practicing law.
He cursed Fucci, saying that his behavior before the murder showed a “high level of premeditation” and that he seemed to understand the consequences of his actions.
Judge Smith also found it “disturbing” that there appeared to be no motive for the murder and that it was committed “for no other reason than to satisfy this defendant’s inner desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.”
Fucci said he was nine times sorry in a handwritten letter apologizing to the Bailey family, his own family and the community for taking the young woman’s life.
I’m sorry you haven’t known her that long. You did not have long relationships with [Tristyn] and for that I am sorry,’ he wrote.
‘To the community, I’m sorry, I caused all this pain every day and I’m sorry and I know my [apology] I won’t fix anything or bring it back, but I hope it helps in some way.
Fucci also apologized for the effects his actions had on his family, saying he missed spending time with his parents and siblings, as well as his mother’s “lemon pepper chicken.”
The photos released showed Fucci’s day on May 10, 2021, a day after Tristyn’s body was found covered in knife wounds, it showed her chest covered in scratches.
A Fucci knife was entered into evidence in connection with the cheerleader’s murder
“I miss your hugs,” she wrote. ‘I miss you. The longer I’m here, the more I forget, the more memories I lose. I will never forget that you love me.
During proceedings Wednesday, Fucci’s grandmother, Deborah Spiwak, took the stand and pleaded with the judge not to remove him from her family’s life forever.
“I would die to not get to spend time with him before I go,” Spiwak said.
Bailey’s family sought justice for the 13-year-old boy, asking the judge to sentence him to life in prison.
During her testimony Thursday, Bailey’s sister, Alexis, put 114 stones in a jar, each representing a stab wound that Fucci inflicted on her.
‘Did she scream for help or was she paralyzed in agony?’ Alexis asked Fucci directly in court. ‘She cried for my mother? Did she beg you to stop?
Before sentencing, Smith told the Bailey family that he “can’t bring her back” and “can’t close this.”
However, he urged the family to allow healing to return to their lives.
“Let Bailey Sunday Fun Days come home,” Judge Smith said.
‘Allow the laughter to come home because by depriving yourself of it, you would continue to victimize Tristyn because that’s not what she wanted.
“She would want that happiness and laughter back.”
Bailey was reported missing on Mother’s Day 2021, before her body was found later that night in the woods.
The teenager was stabbed 114 times, with 49 defensive stab wounds to the hands, arms and head.
The point of a knife used to attack her broke off and was ‘located by the coroner in the scalp’ of the victim.
Surveillance footage previously showed Fucci and Bailey walking down a dark residential street together moments before her death as they headed into the woods. Fucci was later seen running alone and barefoot before 3:30 a.m.
Bailey’s sister Alexis took the stand in a Florida court Wednesday and emotionally dropped more than 100 green heart-shaped stones into a small glass jar to “represent the 114 stab wounds my sister endured.”
All members of Bailey’s family appeared on the stand during this week’s sentencing hearings, delivering shocking statements to the court in which they all pushed for the maximum possible sentence for Fucci.
Alexis, the second oldest of four, said Fucci “took everything from us” and his “sense of safety, laughter, health and sense of potential.”
He dropped rocks into a jar, his voiceover revealing questions he had for Fucci, even if he was “too caught up in the thrill of the kill.”
“The number of questions I have for Aiden Fucci surrounding that night plague my mind,” he said.
Did she see you coming at her with the knife? Or did he stab her while she wasn’t paying attention? Did she scream for help or was she paralyzed with agony? Did she cry for my mother? Did she beg you to stop?
Did you hear his lungs gargling blood? Or did you see it in his face when you realized he couldn’t breathe anymore due to his collapsed lungs?
‘What were your last words? Did you stay to watch her die? Or did you leave her there in agonizing pain while you ran away? How long did she suffer? Did you see how life left her eyes?
She continued: ‘The memories of May 9 will be forever etched in my mind, body and soul. Knowing that I was awake and only 11 minutes from my sister as she was brutally murdered. Could he have saved her?
Bailey’s mother, Stacy, said Fucci was ‘beyond saving’ when the family asked the judge for the maximum sentence.
‘Aiden Fucci made a heinous decision on May 9, 2021 and took the very life I brought into this world. Please don’t think for a second that he could be rehabilitated at any moment. He is beyond salvation,’ he told the judge.
She said the moment still “eats” her and “even though I know it’s not my weight to bear it, it doesn’t change the fact that I feel this.”
Stacy also revealed that she hasn’t touched her daughter’s room since she last occupied it.
“I can’t stand to change a thing, not even wash his clothes in the hamper, because it would remove his smell,” she said. ‘I don’t know if we will ever have comfort in our home again.’
Fucci also wrote a letter to the judge, apologizing to the Bailey family and the community for the harm he had caused, as well as to his parents. He told his father that he was “special because you made fun of nothing” and that he missed his mother’s lemon pepper chicken.
The late girl’s brother, Teegan, said his sister had a “personality brighter than fireworks” and wonders every day if she could have done something.
“Every day I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I had slept on that couch or stayed up later,” he said.
‘If I had slept on that couch within earshot of the front door, there’s a chance my little sister would still be alive today.
I’ve lived with that question, that weight, and that guilt ever since I went to wake Tristyn up on Mother’s Day and found her room empty.