Florida teenager Aiden Fucci has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing young cheerleader Tristyn Bailey in a quiet suburb of Jacksonville. The incident took place in 2021.
The accused, Fucci was 14-years-old when police say he stabbed the 13-year-old cheerleader 114 times on Mothers’ Day in 2021 in St. John’s County, Florida.
As jury selection was about to begin on Monday in his first-degree murder trial, Fucci asked to address the court and said he was changing his plea to guilty, according to WJXT-TV.
He said: “I just want to apologise to the Bailey family.”
Fucci was arrested shortly after the discovery of Bailey’s body in May 2021.
He allegedly posted a selfie to Snapchat from the back of a police car after his arrest, with the caption: “Hey guys has anybody seen Tristyn lately”.
The teenagers were classmates at Patriot Oaks Academy in St. Johns.
St. Johns County Circuit Judge R. Lee Smith asked Fucci whether he needed more time to make the decision, but he declined, according to WJXT-TV.
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After Fucci’s arrest, police found a sheath of a Buck knife in his bedroom, along with a pair of shoes and a shirt with blood.
A Buck knife retrieved from a pond near where Bailey’s body was found was consistent with her stab wounds.
According to the autopsy report, Ms Bailey had 49 defensive stab wounds on her arms and right hand.
