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Court records show a major development Thursday in the case of Crystal Lane Smith, who had been scheduled to face trial Monday for allegedly tampering with evidence after her son killed a 13-year-old classmate.
She is now scheduled for a “felony plea and sentence” – typically indicative of an intent to plead guilty – at 1:30 p.m. Friday in St. Johns County Circuit Court in Florida, almost two years to the day that her son Aiden Fucci killed cheerleader Tristyn Bailey.
Fucci pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February in the heinous killing of his classmate. Then 14, Fucci stabbed Bailey 114 times on Mothers’ Day in 2021 and left her for dead in the woods. He never explained why he did it, but friends said he told them he wanted to feel what it was like to kill someone. At 16 years old, he was sentenced in March to life in prison.
Home security video showed that on the day of the brutal slaying, his mother retrieved and scrubbed a pair of jeans Fucci had worn. She was then seen showing them to an unidentified woman before putting them back. The cleaning happened after deputies had visited the home to question Fucci and taken him to a site where he said he had last seen her, according to court records.
Forensics later determined the jeans contained blood.
It’s unclear what sentencing agreement the prosecution may have made with Smith, but she faces up to five years in prison for the third-degree felony, according to Florida statutes.
Relatives of young Tristyn Bailey were involved in the decision to forgo a trial and said they have been informed of her intent to plead guilty.
“The family is … appreciative of the hard work of the St. Johns’ County Sheriff’s Department and the 7th Circuit State Attorney’s Office!” the statement said, adding that they plan to make an announcement Friday about the work of The Tristyn Bailey Foundation in “victim advocacy and continuing to shine Tristyn’s legacy with the world.”
What happened to Tristyn Bailey?
Tristyn was found stabbed to death in the woods near their Durbin Crossing neighborhood on May 9, 2021. Fucci was questioned at length in a Sheriff’s Office holding room at the time, including by his mother, but he never revealed what actually happened, according to investigation’s video.
Smith asked Fucci if he was sure nothing was on his jeans, whispering “Blood.” She also told him Tristyn had been found dead and he was in a lot of trouble being the last one seen with her.
Smith was arrested June 4, 2021, on the tampering charge and released the next day on $25,000 bond, according to jail records.
Witnesses during the presentencing phase for Fucci indicated he had a fairly normal upbringing, despite some troubles in school and potential red flags. Smith had not attended her son’s court proceedings while awaiting her own trial as recommended by her attorney, but she did submit letters to the judge and the Bailey family during his sentencing phase.
“As a mother, the love you have for your child is difficult to articulate to others, unless they’re a mother themself. To be helpless to protect your child is a mother’s worst living nightmare,” she wrote. “To cope with such a loss is unimaginable.
“I grieve for the devastating loss of Tristyn, I grieve for the subsequent arrest of my son, and I grieve for the irreparable agony inflicted on the Bailey family, as well as all other friends and families effected. Most of all, however, I grieve for Stacy Bailey as a mother.”
Forrest Bailey, Tristyn’s father, questioned the sincerity of her statement.
“You’ve seen the videos from the home. You’ve seen the videos from the interrogation room,” he said after Fucci’s last court appearance. “I would say if she is sorry, she can start by accepting responsibility,”
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