ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A 15-year-old murder suspect appeared in court this week in connection with the 2021 death of his classmate, 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey.
According to News4Jax, Aiden Fucci appeared at the St. Johns County court on Monday for a pretrial hearing ahead of his trial date. The teen pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for November.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Fucci was arrested on May 10, 2021, the day after Bailey was found dead in a wooded area in St. John, where the victim and the suspect both lived.
The 13-year-old girl was reported missing on the morning of May 9, and investigators learned through surveillance footage that she was seen with the suspect in the early morning hours of that Sunday.
State Attorney R.J. Larizza said at a news conference last year that Fucci stabbed Tristyn a shocking 114 times.
“There were defensive wounds on this young lady and she was fighting for her life,” Larizza said, according to the report.
Larizza also said that Fucci had been planning to commit a murder.
“He had told friends that he was going to kill someone, and that it was imminent … he talked about that with his friends several times,” Larizza said, adding that investigators did not believe Fucci specifically targeted Bailey, who grew up in the same neighborhood as Fucci, and went to the same school.
The state attorney said that Fucci did offer some specifics of his violent plan that appeared to have come to fruition: He said he was intending to take someone into the woods and fatally stab them.
According to the report and statements made at the press conference last year, none of the people who had been told of Fucci’s plan came forward to police until it was too late.
The presiding judge said Monday that the case is still on track for the November trial date, with another scheduled hearing to take place in August.
Check back for updates.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to the latest episode:
[Feature Photo: Tristyn Bailey/Family Handout; Aiden Fucci/ County Regional Detention Center]
