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Boy, 14, charged as adult in 13-year-old girl's death

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Posted at 3:51 PM, May 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-28 18:51:39-04

ST. JOHNS, Fla. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy is being charged as an adult in the fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old cheerleader whose body was found in the northeast Florida woods earlier this month.

Court records show the State Attorney's Office in St. Johns County filed a notice Thursday to transfer Aiden Fucci's case from juvenile to adult court after a grand jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge.

Tristyn Bailey was last seen early May 9 at the community center in the Durbin Crossing community south of Jacksonville.

The Associated Press reported that video surveillance from the community center captured Bailey walking with Fucci shortly after 1 a.m. on May 9.

A nearby home's video cameras showed the pair walking along a road about 1:45 a.m.

The same video captured Fucci only walking in the areas at 3:27 a.m.

Investigators were led to Fucci thanks in part to the videos. They also found in Fucci's bedroom evidence related to the clothing seen in the surveillance videos.

According to the AP, a dive team found what investigators believe to be the murder weapon in a nearby pond.

Officials say Bailey's parents reported her missing later that morning, and a neighbor found her body in a heavily wooded area that evening.