When he fatally stabbed Tristyn Bailey, 13, the admitted killer was 14 years old. Prosecutors said he faced a potential sentence of life in prison.

Authorities said Monday that a Florida juvenile who stabbed a 13-year-old cheerleader 114 times nearly two years ago pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

The plea in the violent stabbing of Tristyn Bailey came one day before jury selection in the trial of Aiden Fucci, who was 14 when he was arrested in the May 9, 2021, death, according to a statement from the state’s attorney’s office for Florida’s Seventh Judicial District.

“Today was a significant event in this case,” stated State Attorney R.J. Larizza. Prosecutors will seek the maximum penalty, which is life in prison, he added.

According to the office’s statement, no plea deal had been agreed. Fucci’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tristyn’s family stated in a statement that they were convinced prosecutors would have obtained a guilty judgment, but the surprise plea offered “great relief,” according to NBC affiliate WTLV in Jacksonville.

“Just like Tristyn battled for her life, we fought for her and refused any plea agreement,” the statement read. “We totally supported the prosecutor in rejecting the offered plea bargains mentioned by the Public Defender during the plea hearing.”

Tristyn was discovered dead in the woods outside of Jacksonville. Fucci told investigators in a probable cause statement that he got into an altercation with Tristyn and pushed her to the ground after they left a mutual friend’s house before daybreak on May 9.

While still considered a witness, Fucci took a selfie of himself in the back of a police car flashing a peace sign and shared it to social media with the caption: “Hey people, has anyone seen Tristyn lately?”

He was detained on May 10 and charged with second-degree murder at the time.

A grand jury indicted Fucci on a first-degree murder charge a few days later, and he was scheduled to stand trial as an adult. At the time, Larizza stated that the sheer quantity of stab wounds sustained by the girl supported the indictment and demonstrated that the attack was planned.

Fucci is scheduled to return to court on February 23, when a judge will set a sentencing date.