JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Five of The Bailey 7 took the stand on Wednesday during Aiden Fucci's sentencing hearing. Tristyn Bailey's confessed killer faces a life sentence for her grisly murder. Her family remembered her and honored her legacy with their impact statements while asking the judge for the maximum sentence.
Alexis, Teegan, Brittney, Stacy and Forrest Bailey all spoke about the kind of person that Tristyn was. Her siblings and parents also recounted the feelings of grief, anger and guilt that they have suffered since Tristyn's death.
Sophia, one of Tristyn's sisters, decided not to speak, although her father did explain their special bond.
Alexis Bailey - Tristyn's sister
Alexis, the second-oldest sister in the Bailey family, brought a jar with her as she took the stand. She placed 114 aqua stones, Tristyn's color, into the jar.
It took about three minutes.
Each stone represented a stab wound that her little sister had to endure.
Alexis then listed the questions about her sister's murder that she said plague her mind. All of these questions were aimed directly at Fucci.
"Did she cry for my mother? Did she beg you to stop? Did you hear her lungs gargling with blood? Or did you see it in her face when she realized she could no longer breathe due to her collapsed lung? How long did she suffer? Did you watch the life leave her eyes? Do you know the answer to any of these questions? Or were you too caught up in the thrill of the kill?"
Alexis went on to recount the details of May 9, memories which she said will forever be ingrained on her "mind body and soul." She explained how she vomited when she heard Tristyn's body was found; a detective held her hair back as she was sick. She recalled how her father laid on the floor "screaming in a way no human should ever be able to produce."
Alexis spoke to how their family had been transformed by anger and guilt, asking themselves if they could have done anything differently. In fact, all the Bailey's said something similar in their testimony.
Additionally, she explained the painful responsibilities which fell to her after her sister's death.
"I am the one who had the responsibility of speaking with the funeral home...I was the one who had to pick her up...and make that long drive home with her ashes."
Teegan Bailey - Tristyn's brother
Tristyn's only brother started by recalling his memories of the day before Mother's Day. He was home visiting to celebrate the holiday.
Teegan spoke about their sibling banter at dinner, how his niece played with her food and crawled under the table and how his dad entertained the family with his comedy. He called this last meal together "perfectly imperfect."
After dinner, Teegan said he went for a walk with his sister before watching TV on the couch. When he began to fall asleep, he took himself to bed.
But then Teegan began to explain the guilt.
"Every single day, I can't help but wonder what would have happened had I slept on that couch or if I'd stayed up later... Had I slept on that couch that was within earshot of our front door there's a possibility that my little sister could still be alive today. I've lived with that question, that weight and that guilt since I went to wake up Tristyn on Mother's Day and found her room empty."
Teegan said he now suffers from depression, anxiety and PTSD. He tried to distract and numb himself with school, work and alcohol.
"There are no words to convey the misery that was born from my grief and my sense of isolation."
Brittney Bailey - Tristyn's sister
The oldest of the Bailey 7 addressed Fucci with a controlled fury. She called him a coward after she explained how she and her family heard about her sister's gruesome death.
"As later we learned, that friend Tristyn thought she had ambushed our youngest Bailey by stabbing her 114 times. Over and over and over to the point where you know, we all know, she fought her fight and had nothing left in her body to give. And yet he continued like an absolute coward.
You, Aiden Fucci, decided to overpower a five-foot three innocent 13-year-old girl. How much more of a coward could you possibly be?"
Brittney then listed the impact the loss of her sister has had on her day-to-day life, on her marriage, her business and her mental health - even on her parenting.
"I fight my emotions in my own household in hopes my four-year-old daughter doesn't try to console me, her mother, something no toddler should ever feel compelled to do."
When asking for a life sentence for Fucci, the eldest sister explained "justice is just a word for comfort. It doesn't bring her back."
Stacy Bailey - Tristyn's mother
In a day of anguished testimony, perhaps the most poignant came from her mother, Stacy Bailey. She told the judge how in a community of teenagers traumatized by Tristyn’s death, several tried to take their own lives. She spoke of her difficult pregnancy with Tristyn and their travels together for her cheerleading team. And she recounted the horror they all experienced on Mother’s Day 2021, when she was murdered.
She also read the judge a single entry from her journal, documenting a night spent careening between fear and anxiety, sleep elusive, steeped in dread. Her thoughts included the suffering her daughter endured as she was stabbed to death.
“How terrified she must have been," she read. "What went wrong in that moment of betrayal from someone she thought was her friend? Did she know it was coming? Did you [Fucci] wait for her back to be turned? The first strike of the knife. The fearful shock she must have had. The second strike: ‘What is happening?’ I can only imagine she tries desperately to fight him off. ‘Why is this happening?’ He continues to strike, over and over and over, as she continues to fight. …Was she screaming for help? Did she try to reach for her phone to call for help? Tristyn’s desperation to live and get away from him continues until he overpowers my child. … I cannot get it out of my head about the pain Tristyn felt.”
Forrest Bailey - Tristyn's father
The patriarch of the family was the last of the Bailey 7 to speak.
Forrest began his statement by thanking the community for supporting his family. He then explained their family dynamics - How he had always dreamed of having a large family and how lucky he is to have children who treasure one another.
He also spoke up for Sophia, who was not ready to speak herself.
"It is an impossible task to ask her to summarize the loss of her sister, they had the most unique relationship. While so much has been shared on how trust and encourage others. Sofia likely was Tristyn's biggest supporter and fueled her confidence."
Tristyn's dad then addressed her killer directly, responding to Fucci's apology that he made when submitting his guilty plea.
"I want to be clear, saying that your insincere apology is not accepted. And at no part did I sense any glimmer of any true remorse felled in your apology. Without question, I know that statement was for some self-serving purpose that you have. During all of the proceedings in which we've been present, including these past couple of days, at no point in time have I seen anything from you that is any type of remorse.
I loathe your very existence, and know that there is nothing within you that reflects the smallest amount of goodness or human decency."
Brittney spoke for the family when she said, "We are forever Tristyn Bailey strong."