Bailey, 30, was arrested and charged with the shooting death of Joseph and Gail Bailey in their home in Washington, Washington County on June 18, 2024. Bailey filed a petition for name and gender change in 5th District Court to Collin Troy Bailey in 2023.
5th District Judge Keith Barnes said, “The severity this court feels in the courtroom is very real. It’s unfortunate that things like this happen. Ms. Bailey, you are here because of the terrible acts you committed.” “We all feel for the victims in this case.”
Bailey was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, in addition to other crimes, such as attempted aggravated murder, for shooting at a brother.
In November, Bailey pleaded “guilty and mentally ill” to two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and one count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, as part of a plea agreement.
On Friday, he was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 to 25 years to life on the murder charge, as well as zero to five years to life on the assault charge.
Barnes read a statement from Bailey’s granddaughter, who recalled memories of watching the sunset with her grandparents and feeling their love through the quality time they shared.
He said, “The reality is that it’s not just that your parents go through what you did. It’s the ripple effect, the ripple effect that a lot of people feel.” “Your actions that day were quite shocking.”
Bailey’s brother, Corey Bailey, said at the sentencing hearing that he still felt conflicted about the situation and did not know what it meant to be served justice in this situation.
He said, “I don’t think there can be any true justice in something like this. It’s unfair to all that my family has been torn apart in so many ways.” “We lost a parent and we lost a sibling in many ways. So either way, no matter what happens, we are losing as a family on this sentence.”
Another brother, Dustin Bailey, also spoke on behalf of the family. He said that his parents’ lives were defined by how they lived, not how they died. She described how hard-working, dedicated and loving Mia Bailey’s parents were despite her severe autism, schizophrenia, mental illness and other challenges in her life.
He said, “When Mia struggled, Gail’s reaction was not despair or withdrawal. It was determination. That’s what she meant.”
Dustin Bailey said the thing the family misses most is sitting on the porch, talking on the phone and spending time with each other.
If her parents were here today, “they wouldn’t demand harsher punishment just because it exists. They would demand treatment, structure, safety, acceptance of serious mental illness, and yes, consequences, but not retribution.”
Two lives were lost because of Mia Bailey’s actions, he said, and accountability is needed, but he added, “We refuse to pretend that you arrived at that moment with a sound mind, full capacity or adequate support.”
Dustin Bailey said Mia Bailey arrived at that time after years of severe mental illness, “increasing instability” and repeated failures in systems that were supposed to help her, but instead abandoned her and exacerbated the “psychiatric crisis” she was going through and ultimately led to the murders.
Dustin Bailey said, “The consequences we are seeking are not rooted in hate or revenge. They are rooted in responsibility, safety, and the reality that you need structure and healing to survive. What happened cannot be undone, but pretending you are someone you were never able to be is not justice and it does not honor our parents.”
He asked the judge to order consecutive sentences, but did not advocate life without parole, because it “is not justice. It is abandonment disguised as severity.”
Dustin Bailey said, “If you are released decades from now, the reality facing you will already be dire. Being a transgender offender in Utah will make integration into society exceptionally difficult. This reality is the result of a lifetime of living alone.”
The defense argued for concurrent sentencing, citing Mia Bailey’s lack of prior criminal history and mental challenges. Defense attorney Ryan Stout explained that his client had admitted himself to a hospital due to “paranoia, delusions and hallucinations”, but was discharged after only three days, and then 10 days later he murdered his parents.
They cited victim impact statements, which said Mia Bailey’s actions were “related to severe mental illness, not calculated evil.”
Stout then read a statement from Mia Bailey, who said the events had caused her “great pain and regret”.
Bailey’s statement read, “I was not in a stable frame of mind at the time and this could have been prevented if I had gotten help. It makes me want to die because I can’t live with myself. I am deeply sorry to my family that I committed this atrocity. I wish I could have found forgiveness in time.”
The highlights for this article were created with the help of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is entirely human-written.
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