SALT LAKE CITY, UT – A Utah woman who shot both her parents to death and later told police she would “do it again” has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after a judge rejected arguments that her mental illness should reduce her punishment.
Mia Bailey received consecutive 25-year sentences for the aggravated murder convictions plus an additional five years for assault after shooting her mother four times and her father twice in the head at their Washington City home on June 18, 2024. Her brother Dustin narrowly escaped death by locking himself in his bedroom and calling 911 as his sister fired through his door.
During her police interview following the killings, Bailey expressed no remorse for the brutal attack. “I would do it again,” she told investigators. “I hate them.”
Court documents revealed that Bailey shot her father a second time specifically “to make sure that he was dead.” A neighbor’s security camera captured her yellow Kia Soul arriving at and departing from the family home during the time of the murders.
Police apprehended Bailey the following morning near a temple in St. George. She provided detailed statements about the killings during subsequent interviews with detectives.
At sentencing, defense attorneys presented a statement Bailey had written expressing regret. “It makes me want to die, because I can’t live with myself,” the statement read. However, prosecutors argued her earlier declarations of hatred showed her true feelings.
Her brother Dustin testified that Bailey had struggled with mental health issues for years and lacked adequate support. While the court acknowledged her mental illness, the judge determined it did not rise to the level of an insanity defense that would excuse her actions.
Joseph and Gail Bailey were remembered as loving parents who did not deserve the violent end their daughter delivered.
