Authorities on Thursday said that a 14-year-old suspect behind the death of a cheerleader in Florida faces charges as an adult. The boy stabbed the victim 114 times before getting rid of her body in the woods.
The suspect, Aiden Fucci, was charged with first-degree murder which he will pay with a maximum life imprisonment. He was once charged with second-degree murder as minor.
According to St. John’s County prosecutors, Fucci has planned the killing and even shared his intention of stabbing and dumping a dead person in the woods.
What he did was what he premeditated, prosecutors said.
Tristyn Bailey, 13, was found lifeless in the woods near Jacksonville on Mother’s day. She suffered from a “horrific” number of stab wounds in her body.
The victim was last spotted with her friends a night before the crime. She was found shortly after she was reported missing.
Prosecutors said the surveillance video and DNA evidence helped authorities to immediately track his schoolmate, Fucci, who was behind the crime.
State Attorney R.J. Larizza of the 7th Judicial District in Florida said that the knife seen near the crime scene showed the violence of the attack, as its tip was broken.
“Horrific is an understatement,” the attorney said during a press briefing. He said that about 50 stab wounds on the victim’s body can be counted as “defensive wounds.” He said Bailey tried to defend herself from the attack.
He said that the “level of violence” of the attack supports the case being brought to the adult system.
Fucci will be represented by a public defender on Thursday after the case was dropped by his attorney, according to court records.
