8th Grader Shares Chilling Snapchat Post After Arrest For Murder Of Cheerleader

A 14-year-old boy from St. Johns County, Florida, charged with the murder of teen cheerleader Tristyn Bailey, whose body was discovered on Sunday evening just hours after she went missing, posted a disturbing image on Snapchat after his arrest.

Aiden Fucci, a fellow student at Bailey’s school, was taken into custody overnight and charged with second-degree murder, St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said in a press conference Monday. In the chilling Snapchat post after his arrest, Fucci could be seen giving the peace sign in the back of a (police) patrol car.

“Hey guys has anybody [sic] seen Tristyn lately,” read a caption along with the image, WJXT reporter Vic Micolucci revealed in a post.

Currently, the boy is being held at a Department of Juvenile Justice facility in Volusia County.

Bailey was a seventh-grader at Patriot Oaks Academy, where Fucci is in the eighth grade. The girl was last seen Sunday at around 1:15 a.m. at a community center, local outlet WJXT reported. Her family reported her missing at 10 a.m. -- and several community members formed search parties to check wooded areas and areas near the North Amenity Center where the girl was last seen.

Bailey’s body was found by a search volunteer in a wooded area at approximately 6:00 p.m. Sunday. Later that night, Fucci posted the image on Snapchat, according to WJXT.

In the Monday press conference, Hardwick said: "We wanted to put our community at ease that we have the suspect in custody… There are no further threats to this particular case."

He said that the department was pursuing leads from social media but warned people to be still cautious of what they see online as “there is a lot of false information floating around on social media.”

"Just because it's on social media doesn't mean it's true," he said, adding that the sheriff’s office is collecting everything out there that could be leads in this case.

When probed for further information on the two students from Patriot Oaks Academy, Hardwick said the investigation was still ongoing and they were still interviewing witnesses. "We're trying not to release too much information because we still have tips that have not been worked," the sheriff told reporters.

"Let this case go through the process and go through the system. Let us do our jobs. Let the medical examiners do their jobs. And let the State Attorney's Office prosecute this case. Please allow us time to do this," he added.

Police are still encouraging people to submit tips and any helpful information that can help with the investigation. "If you still have a tip out there that can assist us in this case then we're not gonna stop you at all. Our criminal investigation unit will follow up on every single tip," Hardwick said.

The sheriff said the officials would meet with the State Attorney's Office and Bailey's family to decide whether or not Fucci should be charged as an adult and whether they should add charges. "We can always increase the charge," Hardwick said. He said he wants police to "continue to build a better and better case."

Hardwick also expressed gratitude towards the community for aiding in the investigation. "The community helped us solve this case. When I say they went to work, they went to work," he said.

Fucci was scheduled to appear before the court early Tuesday, as per WJXT.