Tristyn Bailey, the 13-year-old us-regions girl found dead in a wooded area Sunday after being reported missing-persons” target=”_blank”>missing<, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
BODY OF MISSING FLORIDA GIRL, 13, FOUND; TEEN SUSPECT IN CUSTODY, SHERIFF SAYS
“This is a cold-blooded murder of a 13-year-old young girl who did not deserve to die,” Sheriff Rob Hardwick told WJXT in an interview.
Bailey was a cheerleader at Patriot Oaks Academy, where she and the 14-year-old suspect were schoolmates.
(St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office)
A 14-year-old boy, who Fox News is not naming due to his age, was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree murder in Bailey’s death. Prosecutors are deciding whether to charge him as an adult.
Bailey and the suspect both grew up in the same neighborhood and attended Patriot Oaks Academy, where she was a cheerleader.
While few details on Bailey’s death have been released since the discovery of her body in a heavily wooded area in the community of Durbin Crossing, Hardwick revealed that she was stabbed multiple times.
“That being said, I don’t wanna mention the number of times, but it is horrific,” the sheriff told the station. “It is horrible.”
The 14-year-old suspect made his first court appearance via Zoom on Tuesday. A judge ordered him held on a second-degree murder charge for 21 days.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive.
