Weeks after her son was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his classmate to death, Aiden Fucci’s mother has been hit with her own sentence of 30 days in jail.
Crystal Smith was charged with evidence tampering for washing her son’s bloody jeans after he stabbed 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey 114 times on Mother’s Day two years ago in Florida.
On Friday, 38-year-old Smith changed her plea from “not guilty” to “no contest” on the third-degree felony charge, which carried a maximum sentence of five years.
Under a plea agreement, she was sentenced to five years probation and 30 days in the St Johns County Jail, with credit for one day already served, WJXT reported.
Fucci was 14 years old when he murdered Tristyn, whose body was found in the woods near his home south of Jacksonville.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February and was sentenced to life on 24 March. His sentence can be reviewed after he spends 25 years behind bars.
Smith was present when Fucci was first questioned by investigators at their home after Tristyn was reported missing.
Police say surveillance video captured Smith scrubbing blood out of Fucci’s jeans after he was taken into custody.
The mother also urged her son to tell the investigators that he was wearing khakis on the night of the stabbing instead of the jeans, and to “find his story and stick with it” in an interrogation room.
By pleading no contest, Smith did not dispute nor admit to the charges, but her plea will be treated as a criminal conviction.
Tristyn’s mother Stacy Bailey faced down Smith with a victim impact statement at Friday’s hearing - which came two days before the two-year anniversary of the killing.
“I will also pray that you will reflect upon your actions while you are without your children on this Mother’s Day,” Ms Bailey said.
