The mother of a young teenage boy who stands accused of murdering a classmate by stabbing her 114 times has now been arrested for allegedly tampering with evidence in the grisly case.
According to local media, 35-year-old Crystal Smith, mother of Aiden Fucci, 14, who stands accused of killing Trystyn Bailey, turned herself into the St. Johns County Sheriff’s office on Saturday.
FOX13 reported that Bailey’s family contacted police to report her missing on May 9. Later in the evening, a neighbor discovered her body nearby in a heavily wooded region. After an autopsy, the medical examiner’s report said she had been stabbed 114 times. Fucci was arrested and charged with her murder the following day, the report stated.
According to an arrest report, surveillance video from Fucci’s home shows deputies speaking with him in front of Smith before he voluntarily left with them. Afterward, Smith is seen on the video going into her son’s room and taking out a pair of blue jeans before taking them to another bedroom and scrubbing them in a sink. Later, the video shows her taking the same jeans into the master bedroom.
But about 10 minutes later, the video shows someone else talking with Smith who then goes into the master bedroom to get the jeans. Both Smith and the other person are seen looking the jeans over a number of times before Smith returns them to Fucci’s bedroom.
Sheriff’s department investigators interviewed the second person in the video, another woman, who said that Smith told them she did not know whether there was any blood on the pants and admitted that she washed them. The second woman, who was not identified in the FOX13 report, also told detectives that she asked Smith why she tried to scrub the jeans and that she could find herself in hot water over doing so.
During the investigation into Bailey’s killing, Fucci was placed in a room containing audio and video recording equipment with Smith and his Father, with Smith asking the boy if he was certain nothing had gotten on his jeans from the previous night. After responding, “I think so, why?” Smith gave the boy a quizzical look and can be heard whispering, “Blood.”
“Using a search warrant, detectives found the blue jeans in question in Fucci’s bedroom. Detectives say the jeans tested positive for the presence of blood as did the drain of the bathroom sink where Smith was seen scrubbing them,” FOX13 reported.
Smith is being held on a $25,000 bond, the outlet reported, adding that Fucci will be tried as an adult and if convicted, faces life in prison.
“I remain incredibly proud of the men and women of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office for their continued thoroughness in this investigation,” Sheriff Robert Hardwick told local media.
“Our goal in any investigation is to ensure proper accountability across the board for successful prosecution,” he continued. “Crystal Smith will be held responsible for her role in this case and justice will be served for Tristyn Bailey and her family.”
State Attorney R.J. Larizza justified trying Fucci as an adult during a press conference shortly after his arrest.
“Every time that arm went back and every time that arm went down, that was premeditation,” he said.
Investigators also found out that Fucci had told friends he planned to kill someone. It isn’t clear if Bailey was his intended target from the outset, however.
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Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
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