“Aiden Fucci didn’t just take Tristyn’s life that day, he took everything from us,” says the sister of a Florida cheerleader who was fatally stabbed 114 times nearly two years ago.
Tristyn Bailey’s family provided emotional accounts Wednesday during the sentencing hearing for the teen who pleaded guilty to the stabbing.
Alexis Bailey, who was the first to take the stand, dropped 114 teal stones into a glass jar to represent each time Fucci stabbed her younger sister.
“I have nightmares about that moment. In my dreams, I try and reach out and grab her, beg her to spend the night, anything to prevent what happened just hours later. Yet, every time, the door closes before I can get to her,” Alexis Bailey said.
She said that on May 9, 2021, she became physically ill as detectives told the family Tristyn had been killed. “Our family broke that day, and I don’t recognize any of us anymore,” she said.
Alexis and another sister, Brittney Bailey Russell, said they have from post-traumatic stress disorder since the slaying. Russell was on her honeymoon when she learned that her sister was missing.
“Agony isn’t painful enough. Shattered to the core doesn’t crumble like how I feel. Infuriated doesn’t even come close to touching the amount of rage I find myself trapped in,” she said. “And let me tell you, justice is just a word for comfort. It doesn’t bring her back.”
After each family member spoke, they dropped a white stone into the jar to represent what Fucci took from them.
Tristyn, a 13-year-old cheerleader, was found dead in woods outside Jacksonville. Fucci, who was 14 at the time of the crime, told authorities that he got into an argument with her and pushed her to the ground after they left a friend’s before dawn on May 9, 2021, according to a probable cause affidavit.
While he was still considered a witness, he snapped a selfie in the back of a police vehicle flashing a peace sign and posted the image on social media, writing in the caption: “Hey…
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