ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The mother of a teenager now serving a life sentence for killing 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey is set to go on trial Monday on a charge of tampering with evidence in the case.
Crystal Smith is accused of trying to wash blood off the jeans of her son, Aiden Fucci, the same day he brutally stabbed the girl to death in the woods of the Durbin Crossing neighborhood.
Home surveillance video showed Smith appearing to wash something in the sink in an upstairs bathroom near Fucci’s room, investigators say, hours after Fucci had come home, leaving Tristyn’s lifeless body to be found by searchers near a retention pond.
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The jeans she was washing — and the sink she was using — later tested positive for blood, prosecutors say.
Smith was charged with tampering with evidence and jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.
In a pretrial hearing Tuesday in St. Johns County, the judge denied a motion from Smith’s attorneys, who were arguing against allowing the testimony of an FDLE analyst. The judge said the analyst can testify about a DNA sample taken from the pants Smith was seen washing on the video.
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On the advice of her counsel, Smith did not appear at the sentencing hearing in March for her son, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Tristyn’s death.
The maximum sentence for an evidence tampering charge is five years in prison.
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Judge denies defense motion as tampering with evidence trial looms for mother of Tristyn Bailey's killer - WJXT News4JAX
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