ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A new motion was filed in the case against a teen killer’s mother for her part in the murder of a St. Johns County teen.
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Teen killer Aiden Fucci was sentenced to life in prison in March for the murder of his teenage classmate Tristyn Bailey. Fucci murdered her on Mother’s Day of 2021 and stabbed her more than 100 times.
But Fucci’s mother, Crystal Smith, is still awaiting trial on evidence tampering charge connected to his case.
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As her trial is set to begin later this month, Smith is looking to get DNA evidence tossed from the case.
Video Action News Jax got from investigators shows Crystal Smith, the mother of teen murderer Aiden Fucci, inside her home washing the bloody pants her son wore the night he killed Tristyn Bailey.
That is at the center of her upcoming trial in mid-May. She’s been charged with tampering with physical evidence to protect her son Aiden from being charged with the murder of his teenage classmate.
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We spoke with Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson about her defense team’s attempt to get certain expert testimony about DNA evidence excluded during her trial.
“It’s possible to have someone testify as an expert that the data that would have been retrieved from the DNA analysis was obscured because there was a clear effort to erase that evidence,” said Carson.
Carson has years of experience in criminal justice and is a former FBI agent. He explained how Smith’s defense team might want to argue that the DNA on those jeans is insufficient.
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“To the crime scene, to the detective, to the property room, to the lab and back to the property room after analysis,” said Carson. “If there’s any fracture in that chain of custody then there is the potential for claiming that the evidence does not pass the test of admissibility in court.”
Carson said that Smith’s defense team would have to argue that there is no proof linking her washing the bloody jeans to her son and his involvement in Bailey’s murder.
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