ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The video attached to this story is from a previous, related report.
A new report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement details how a buck knife discovered in a Durbin Creek retention pond was identified as the weapon investigators claim Aiden Fucci used to fatally stab his middle school classmate Tristyn Bailey.
The report says the knife was found in a retention pond next to where the May 2021 murder occurred. It says the knife was identified as the murder weapon because the missing tip of the blade was found by the Medical Examiner during an autopsy, lodged in Bailey’s scalp.
Fucci is accused of slaying his 13-year-old classmate Bailey by stabbing her 114 times last May. He was 14 at the time but is being charged as an adult with first degree murder and faces life in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to investigative reports, Fucci’s girlfriend previously told an investigator that he had two knives, nicknamed “Picker” and “Poker,” and that on one occasion he put a knife to her throat and pretended to slit it. Less than a month before the murder, she said Fucci told her he was going to find someone walking at night, drag them into the woods and stab them.
A judge is expected to announce this week whether the trial will be delayed beyond its current start date in early November. The judge will also hear arguments on several motions, including defense requests to bar media and the public from pretrial proceedings:
1. Defense Motion to Preclude Submission of the Indictment in any Form to the Jury
2. Defense Motion to Prohibit Prejudicial Emotional Outburst
3. Defense Motion to Prohibit Witnesses from Discussing Testimony
4. Defense Motion for Disclosure of Impeachment Material
5. Defense Motion to Preclude Improper Closing Argument
6. Defense Motion for Closure of Pre-Trial Proceedings
7. Defense Motion to Exclude Video Cameras from Being Present in the Courtroom During Jury Selection
8. Defense Motion in Limine- Autopsy or Other Defined Photographs
9. News Media’s Motion to Intervene and Opposition Memorandum to Defendant’s Motions to Close Court Proceedings from the Public