It was in those first moments when neighbors heard the news that they showedtheir true colors as a community.
Some took to the streets to form search crews, scouring local ponds and woods for any sign of the missing 13-year-oldgirl.
Others started phone chains to ask parents and kidsif they knew of her whereabouts.
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And now, ayear after Tristyn Bailey was stabbed to death on May, 9, 2021,neighbors continue to rally around thefamily and support them in their grief.
Aiden Fucci, 15, is charged with the first-degree murder of Tristyn, aneighbor of hisin theDurbin Crossing communityof northwest St. Johns County. Tristyn, a student at Patriot Oaks Academy where Fucci also attended, was found in a wooded areanear her home less than 24 hours after she was reported missing. She was stabbed114 times.
The community has come together in wayslarge and small, fromholding acandlelight vigil the day Tristyn's body was discovered to organizing meal trains so the householdwouldn't have to worry about preparing food. Bailey has four oldersiblings — three sisters and a brother.
When asked to describe the Durbin Crossing community, Courtney Drury, the Baileys' neighbor,responded: "very tight-knit."
With two families affected by the tragedy within that same community, the circ*mstances could have either torn residents apart or drawn them together.
Fucci livedless than amile from Tristynand the two were captured together on surveillance video at the subdivision's recreation centeraround 1:15the morning before she was reported missing.
That'swhatmakes the situation so difficult, according to St. Johns County Sheriff RobHardwick.
"This is one of those cases — I hate to use the words, but — it's our worst nightmare," Hardwick said in a May 13, 2021, interview with The Record. "These kids both went to school together. … It's going to be a long process to heal for our community."
Hardwick was asked to speak to The Record for this story, but declined to be interviewed.
Tristyn Bailey brought 'a bright energy'
Tristyn was a natural performer, which was apparent even at a young age. With a big smile and spunky personality, she loved the spirit and athleticism of cheerleading.
Jessica Moltisanti coached Tristyn in cheerfrom the time she was about 7.
"She brought such a bright energy to everything she did, and she touched so many people around her," recalled Moltisanti, owner of Zone Cheer All-Stars in St. Johns.
The cheering community is like a big family, Moltisanti said, and the loss of Tristyn left an outsized hole in the hearts of her teammates and coaches.
"It's been a rough year, but the kids have really been amazing getting through it," said Moltisanti, adding that the cheer company dedicated its 2021-22 season in Tristyn's honor.
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Tanya White got to know Tristyn Bailey after she entered middle school and joined thePatriot Oaks Chargers cheering program.
Most middle school cheer captains are eighth-graders, White said, but Tristynwas selected to lead the squad as a seventh-grader.
"She just had this leadership about her and a vibrancy; she always stood out," said White, cheer commissioner for the St. Johns Middle School Athletic Association. "I was so glad she was able to have that experience."
A number of awards and scholarships for cheering programs have been set up in Tristyn's name.
'She was just an angel'
On Saturday, May 8, 2021, the Bailey family returnedhome after an evening out together.
Around midnight,Tristynwas last seen by a siblingand was supposed to be sleeping in her bedroom.
But the next morning — Mother's Day — Tristyn's mother checked her room and saw her daughter was not there.
At about 10 a.m., Stacy Baileycalled 911 to report the teen missing.
Nicole Haggerty was one of the first people Stacy Baileyreached out to, asking if Haggerty or her daughter, with whom Tristyn was close, might knowwhere she was.
Haggerty joined a neighborhood search that was underway, walking in solidarity as the groupcrisscrossedswaths of the well-manicured suburban development.
She thought of Tristynas another daughter, a free-spirited girl who had "so much happiness and joy to share; so much kindness."
"She always made people laugh and was fun to be around," Haggerty said, tearing up at the memory. "She was just an angel."
After hearing the devastating news that Tristyn was not coming home to her family, Haggerty and countless others in the Durbin community took to tying aqua ribbons — Tristyn's favorite color — around nearly every tree or pole in the neighborhood.
"We just did everything we could to come together and support them," said Haggerty. "And the way the family has handled themselves with such grace and dignity, I think everyone is just in awe of it."
'Carrying this loss forward'
In a statement sent by Forrest Bailey, Tristyn's father, to The Record, he thanked the communities of Durbin Crossing, St. Johns and Jacksonville, as well as his daughter's classmates andcheerteammates.
The statement, submitted on behalf of "The Bailey 7," reads, in part:"As a family, we continue to be devastated and overcome with grief at the loss of Tristyn. With time, we are learning to deal with carrying this loss forward.… It is in the day-to-day memories and expressions of love that we best carry Tristyn forward."
The Baileys go on to remark on how touching it was that their daughter wasrecognized "from countless aqua bows tied up in her memory to painted rocks carried and hidden around the world to share her legacy."
With a criminal trial not set to start until November, the family still feels in a kind of limbo. Stacy Bailey marked this Mother's Day without her youngest child under her roof.In the meantime, Forrest Bailey said they remain focused on Tristyn and the exampleof goodness she leaves.
AGoFundMe accounthas been set up for Bailey's family, which they say will be used to establish a memorial foundation in Tristyn's name. The family has taken some time in recent months to think of waysthat Tristyn's legacy might be associated with positive outcomes.
Forrest Bailey said at this point, the general idea is to work with a community-focused gym that would also support defense classes, a youth mental health program and a scholarship.
"Through acts of kindness and love, as a community we can drive out evil together," he wrote.
