Crystal Smith, 37, of Saint Augustine, is facing felony evidence tampering charges in the death of Tristyn Bailey, 13.
114 times before ditching her body in a wooded area on May 9, 2021.
During the Tuesday proceedings, Judge R. Lee Smith rejected Smith’s attorney’s argument that expert testimony about whether Smith could have damaged DNA evidence when she washed the pants was inadmissible, the outlet said. The judge also weighed the state’s request that the defense be prevented from arguing that the prosecutors must prove that Smith altered or destroyed genetic evidence in the case.
“What we’re charging is that she altered the jeans. Period. It doesn’t matter if she was successful or not successful,” assistant state attorney Jennifer Dunton argued. Bailey’s family remembered her at a gathering on the two-year anniversary of her death.Jury selection for Smith’s trial is set for May 15. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.
“We’re completely overwhelmed with the support we continue to get and how people are taking her spirit and taking it forward,” Bailey’s father, Forest, told the crowd. “She was loud and, man, did she have a great laugh and she had a smile. I wish you could contain the power of smiles such as what she had.”
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