Boy, 14, allegedly stabbed teen cheerleader 114 times
Grisly new details have emerged after a 14-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a 13-year-old cheerleader to death.
Aiden Fucci is being charged as an adult in the fatal stabbing of Tristyn Bailey, whose body was found in the northeast Florida woods earlier this month.
State Attorney RJ Larizza said during a news conference that charging Aiden as an adult wasn't only appropriate, but the only choice his office could make.
An autopsy discovered at least 114 stab wounds on Tristyn.
"Every time that arm went back and every time that arm went down, that was premeditation," Mr Larizza said.
The State Attorney's Office in St Johns County filed a notice on Thursday to transfer Aiden's case from juvenile to adult court after a grand jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge, according to court records. He faces a possible life sentence.
Fucci allegedly told friends of plan to kill
Investigators said Aiden had also told several friends he planned to kill someone, though it wasn't clear whether Tristyn was his intended target from the beginning, Mr Larizza said.
Tristyn was last seen early on May 9 at the community centre in the Durbin Crossing community south of Jacksonville. Tristyn and Aiden attended nearby Patriot Oaks Academy, where the 13-year-old was a cheerleader.
Tristyn's parents reported her missing later that morning, and a neighbour found her body in a heavily wooded area that evening, the St Johns County Sheriff Office said.
Fucci was arrested the next day on a second-degree murder charge.
Police uncover suspected murder weapon
According to an arrest report, video surveillance from the community centre showed the girl walking with Aiden shortly after 1am (local time) on May 9.
Another video from a nearby home showed the pair walking along a road about 1.45 am. The same video showed only Aiden walking in the areas at 3.27 am, the report said.
The videos led the detectives to talk to Aiden. The girl's body was found close to the boy's home, the report said.
Detectives reported finding evidence related to the clothing seen in the surveillance videos in the boy's bedroom and some of the items had a presumptive positive result for the presence of blood, the report said.
A dive team found a knife in a nearby pond that investigators believe was the murder weapon.
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