Katie 
Aiden Fucci, 13, of Jacksonville, Florida. [Image credit: St. John's County Sheriff's Office]
Jacksonville, Florida: The mother of 14-year-old Aiden Fucci, accused in the stabbing murder of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey turned herself into the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office on Saturday, June 5, 2021.
According to a statement from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office she was booked into St. Johns County Sheriff's Office Detention Center and then later released on $25,000 bond.
35-year-old Crystal Smith is accused of entering Fucci's bedroom and retrieving a pair of jeans after he had been arrested.
She is reportedly then observed in the home surveillance footage scrubbing the jeans before returning them to her own bedroom. At a later time she was reportedly observed "inspecting the jeans several times" with another individual before returning the jeans to her son's bedroom.
"Tampering with evidence is tampering with justice and cannot be excused or tolerated," State Attorney R. J. Larizza stated in a release according to 4Jax.
"As soon as his clothes made it to the St Johns County Sheriff's Office, it was evident to them that the clothes had been washed," Attorney Gene Nichols stated. "I'm sure Mr. Larizza's office recognizes this is a mother trying to protect her son and made some bad decisions in order to do so."
Nichols further stated that it is unlikely that her case will proceed before a judgment is made in her son's case.
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