Teen killer Aiden Fucci is jailed for life after stabbing 13-year-old cheerleader 114 times

Teen 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 condemned for 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 grisly stabbing which 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 when Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith handed down the sentence – Bailey’s family unable to hold back tears in court.

Because he’s a juvenile, the Florida teen is not eligible for the death penalty and has 30 days to appeal the Judge’s decision. He’ll also be able to have his sentence reviewed in 25 years.

Teen killer 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 when Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith handed down the sentence – Bailey’s family unable to hold back tears in court

Surveillance footage previously showed Fucci and Bailey (pictured) walking together down a dim residential street moments before her death as they headed to the woods. Fucci was then seen running alone barefoot just before 3.30 am

‘Tristyn Bailey was conscious, she was aware, and she was doing everything she could to fend off this attack,’ said Judge Smith.

‘She suffered a painful, horrifying death from someone that she trusted.’

The Florida judge revealed his decision on Friday morning and said there was only ‘one appropriate sentence in this case’ before sharing the ruling.  

Fucci’s age, mental health, home life and letters from the boy’s family were all taken into consideration, as well as the fact he was the ‘sole participant’ and was ‘100 percent responsible for this murder.’

He added that he believed that there would be ‘poor prognosis for rehabilitation’ and acknowledged the ‘compelling’ victim statements made earlier in the week.

During Friday’s sentencing, Judge Smith said this had been one of the ‘most difficult and shocking cases’ in the country that he’d witnessed in his 16 years practicing law. 

He reviled Fucci saying that his behavior before the murder showed a ‘heightened level of premeditation’ and that it appeared that he understood the consequences of his actions. 

It was also described as ‘troubling’ by the Florida judge who said there appeared to be no motive for the murder and that it was committed for ‘no other reason but to satisfy this defendant’s internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.’

Fucci said that he was sorry nine times in a handwritten letter in which he apologized to the Bailey family, his own family, and the community for taking the young girl’s life.

‘I’m sorry that you didn’t get to know her that long. You did not have any long relationships with [Tristyn] and for that i’m sorry,’ he wrote.

‘For the Community I’m sorry I brought all this pain on everyday and I’m sorry and  know my [apology] will not fix anything or bring her back but i hop it help in some way.’

Fucci also detailed how he missed spending time with his parents and siblings as well as his mother’s ‘lemon pepper chicken.’

Released photos showed Fucci’s May 10, 2021 – a day after Tristyn’s body was found covered with knife wounds – showing his chest covered with scratches

A knife was taken from Fucci as evidence in relation to the murder of his schoolmate

‘I miss your hugs,’ he wrote. ‘I miss you. The longer I’m in here the more i forget the more memories i Lose. I’ll never forget you love me.’

During Wednesday’s proceedings, Fucci’s grandmother Deborah Spiwak took the stand, and pleaded for the judge not to take him out of his family’s lives forever.

‘I’d die not being able to spend time with him sometime before I go,’ Spiwak said.

Bailey’s family sought justice for the 13-year-old and asked the judge to sentence him to life in prison.

During their testimony on Thursday, Bailey’s sister Alexis put 114 stones in a jar, each representing a stab wound that Fucci inflicted on her.

‘Did she scream out for help or was she paralyzed with agony?’ Alexis asked Fucci directly in court. ‘Did she cry for my mother? Did she beg you to stop?’

Prior to the sentencing, Smith told the Bailey family that he ‘cannot bring her back’ and ‘cannot provide a closure to this.’

However urged the family to allow healing back into their lives.

‘Allow Bailey Sunday Fun Days to return to your home,’ said Judge Smith. 

‘Allow laughter to return to your home because in depriving yourselves of that, it would continue to victimize Tristyn because it’s not what she would want. 

‘She would want that happiness and that laughter to return.’  

Bailey was reported missing on Mother’s Day 2021, before her body was found later that evening in the woods. 

The teenager was stabbed 114 times, with 49 defensive stab wounds to the hands, arms and head. 

The tip of a knife used to attack her broke off and was ‘located by the medical examiner in the scalp’ of the victim.

Surveillance footage previously showed Fucci and Bailey walking together down a dim residential street moments before her death as they headed to the woods. Fucci was later seen running alone barefoot at before 3.30am.

Alexis, Bailey’s sister, took the stand in a Florida courtroom on Wednesday and emotionally dropped more than 100 green heart-shaped stones into a small glass jar to ‘represent the 114 stab wounds that my sister had to endure’

Bailey’s family members all appeared on the stand during this week’s sentencing hearings, giving impact statements to the court in which they all pushed for the maximum sentence possible for Fucci

Bailey’s family members all appeared on the stand during this week’s sentencing hearings, giving impact statements to the court in which they all pushed for the maximum sentence possible for Fucci.

Alexis, the second oldest of four, said Fucci ‘took everything from us’ and from their ‘sense of security, laughs, health, and sense of potential.’ 

She dropped stones into a jar, her voiceover revealing questions she had for Fucci, including if he got ‘too caught up in the thrill of the kill.’

‘The number of questions I have for Aiden Fucci surrounding that night plague my mind,’ she said. 

‘Did she see you coming at her with the knife? Or did you stab her while she wasn’t paying attention? She did scream out for help or was she paralyzed with agony? Did she cry for my mother? Did she beg you to stop?

‘Did you hear her lungs gargling with blood? Or did you see it in her face when you realized she could no longer breathe due to her collapsed lungs?

‘What were her last words? Did you stay to watch her die? Or did you leave her there in agonizing pain as you ran away? How long did she suffer? Did you watch the life leave her eyes?’

She continued: ‘The memories of May 9 will forever be engrained in my mind, body and soul. To know I was awake and only 11 minutes away from my sister as she was being brutally murdered. Could I have saved her?’

Bailey’s mother Stacy said Fucci was ‘beyond saving’ as the family asked the judge for the maximum sentence.

‘Aiden Fucci made a heinous decision on May 9, 2021, and took the very life that I brought into this world. Please do not for one second think that he could be rehabilitated at any point. He is beyond saving,’ she told the judge.

She said the moment still ‘eats’ at her and ‘while I know it is not my weight to bear, it doesn’t change the fact that I feel this.’

Stacy also revealed that she hasn’t touched her daughter’s room since the last time her daughter occupied it.

‘I can’t bear to change one thing, not even washing her clothes in the hamper as it would wash away the scent of her,’ she said. ‘I do not know if we’ll ever have comfort in our home again.’

Fucci 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

The late girl’s brother, Teegan, said his sister had a ‘personality brighter than fireworks’ and he wonders every day if he could have done something.

‘Every single day I can’t help but wonder what would have happened had I slept on that couch instead or if I’d stayed up later,’ he said. 

‘Had I slept on that couch within earshot of the front door, there’s a possibility my little sister could still be alive today. 

‘I’ve lived with that question, that weight and that guilt since I went to wake up Tristyn on Mother’s Day and found her room empty.’