Aiden Fucci jail time filled with fights, threats, bullying and restraint measures

Aiden Fucci has been threatening officers and menacing and extorting other teen inmates at the Duval County jail, according to several incident reports released this week. He also has been sprayed twice with chemical restraint.

The reports portray the 16-year-old as combative and bullying, fighting another teen inmate and forcing others to provide him items from the jail commissary.

One teen told jail officials, “Fucci been saying he gonna stab me up… He go around saying we all p------ because most of in here for shooting someone and killing them. He says he 'real' because he stabs a b---- face to face and take they life. It’s like he get high off it or something.”

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Fucci is awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge in the May 2021 stabbing death of 13-year-old classmate Tristyn Bailey in St. Johns County. An autopsy showed she suffered 114 stab wounds. His buck knife and broken-off tip were found in a nearby pond. He is being charged as an adult and has pleaded not guilty.

The next month his mother, 37-year-old Crystal Lane Smith was charged with tampering with evidence after blood was scrubbed out of Fucci's jeans that he had on that day.

One report from January 2022 says “Fucci was able to manipulate and extort inmates by threats and intimidation. Inmate Fucci did not have a commissary receipt to explain the abundance of commissary in his cell. The victims provided receipts and [words redacted] it was verified whom the commissary items rightfully belonged to. When officers entered his cell to obtain the commissary items back for the other inmates, he became highly agitated and made threats against the officers’ lives … Inmate Fucci made threats to kill our families while beating on his cell door in a loud vicious manner.”

The reports say Fucci was on occasion placed in a restraint chair and placed in isolation cells “for the safety of inmates, officers, himself and property.”

Several reports detail a Christmas Day 2021 fight between Fucci and another inmate. The report says Fucci began the fight by striking the other inmate in the face. Officers tried to break it up using chemical spray. Fucci eventually complied, but the other inmate “continued to strike inmate Fucci” and was eventually hit with a Taser.

After the incident, Fucci was sent to solitary confinement. “Since the incident,” a report dated Jan. 25, 2022, says, “inmate Fucci has been relentless in his threats against [the inmate’s] life.”

Cruel and unusual punishment

Although Fucci is charged in St. Johns County, he has been detained in the Duval County jail because it has facilities for teenagers.

In November his attorney filed a motion to move him out of solitary confinement, claiming he was enduring “ongoing torture.” The motion said solitary confinement is "a form of cruel and unusual punishment" that "will result in psychological harm."

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The motion said Fucci was in confinement "for over 400 days of pretrial detention; with three exceptions where he was in general population for a total of 129 days that ended on May 16, 2022." It said he was in solitary due to “threats of violence against [him] in May 2022; and previously for a disciplinary action in January 2022, and suicidal ideations in 2021."

Fucci's trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 6 with a six-person jury.

Was Aiden Fucci beaten?

Fucci told one officer he was beat up while in St. Johns County but told another a different story.

A jail reports says a chief told a sergeant to check Fucci's face for "dark coloration" under his eyes after he returned from a St. Johns County court appearance on Oct. 28, 2021. The sergeant did not see anything abnormal, according to the report.

Later that day, the chief and a lieutenant went to personally check on him. The report said Fucci told the officers the discoloration under his eyes was from "not sleeping well," not because he had been in any fights or been battered by staff.

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However, Fucci later told another corrections officer that "St. Johns County beat my a-- because I wouldn’t get out of the car when we got there." When asked why he didn't report the incident to anyone else, the report says he replied, “I ain't no snitch."

At that point, the lieutenant ordered that Fucci be medically evaluated. When the nurse asked him if he was hit while in St. Johns County, he denied the beating, according to the report.

“No, no one touched me. I’m just not sleeping well,” Fucci said, according to the report. He was deemed "fit to return" to his housing location without "any visible marks" on him.

More chemical spray, restraints and cussing

An Oct. 5, 2022, report details an incident that stemmed from Fucci having "excess" books and magazines in his jail cell. In the subsequent confrontation, officers sprayed him with chemical restraint and strapped him in a restraint chair for more than three hours.

According to the report, two officers went to the teen's cell to conduct "a shakedown" and discovered the surfeit of books and magazines. The report says Fucci had been warned several weeks prior that the materials were considered contraband and would be confiscated if he didn't mail them home.

Because Fucci reportedly refused to mail his books home, the officers attempted to remove the items themselves. At that point, the report says “inmate Fucci stood up, making a movement toward the books and stated, ‘You aren’t taking my f------ books, I’m calling my people."

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The report says Fucci refused to step out of the way and then refused to put his hands behind his back for cuffs, repeating "f--- that. I’m calling my people." After an officer drew his chemical restraint spray, Fucci ran to the back of the cell, fell to the ground and hid his face in his hands. The officer moved closer and sprayed him in the face. Fucci was then handcuffed.

According to the report, the sergeant "deemed inmate Fucci a threat to himself, property and others, and ordered that he be placed in the restraint safety chair.” Four officers strapped Fucci into the chair at around 3:50 p.m. He remained there until about 7:05 p.m.

According to the report, “While being placed in the restraint safety chair, inmate Fucci became agitated and made the utterance "y'all some real f--- n-----.”

After being medically cleared, he was returned to his cell "with no further incident."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tristyn Bailey killing: Suspect reportedly combative in jail