- Mia Bailey, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder of her parents in St. George.
- Bailey pleaded "guilty and mentally ill" to amended charges for the double murder.
- Sentencing is set for Dec. 19; she faces 25 years to life in prison for each murder charge.
ST. GEORGE — A woman accused of shooting and killing her parents in St. George pleaded guilty with a mental condition on Thursday.
Mia Bailey, 30, is accused of shooting and killing her parents, Joseph and Gail Bailey, on June 18, 2024, in their home in Washington, Washington County. Bailey was charged in 5th District Court with two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, in addition to other crimes such as attempted aggravated murder for allegedly shooting at a brother.
Bailey filed a name and gender change in 2023 in 5th District Court from Collin Troy Bailey.
In October, a judge determined Bailey is legally competent to stand trial in the case, and prosecutors had offered Bailey a plea deal.
Bailey pleaded "guilty and mentally ill" to two counts of aggravated murder, first-degree felonies, and one count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
Fifth District Judge Keith Barnes accepted the plea in a hearing Thursday afternoon and noted that the prosecution has assured him the victims in the case are "on board" with the plea agreement.
Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19 at 9 a.m. Despite the brutal nature of the crime, prosecutors said early in the case that they were not seeking the death penalty. A person can be sentenced to a minimum of 25 years and up to life without the possibility of parole on an aggravated murder conviction.
The shooting
Police say a neighbor's security camera recorded Bailey arriving at her parents' home in her Kia Soul the night of the shooting.
After her arrest, she told detectives "that she entered the house and almost immediately began shooting at her mother," the affidavit alleges. "Mia stated that her father ... heard the shots and began walking toward her. Mia stated that she shot her father in the head and that he immediately dropped to the ground."
Police say Bailey told them she went downstairs for a while, then returned upstairs and fired more shots. "Mia described that she returned to her father, who was lying on the ground, and shot him one more time in the head to make sure that he was dead. While doing that, Mia ... walked back over to her mother and shot her in the head to make sure that she was dead," police wrote in the affidavit.
Police say Bailey's father was shot twice and her mother four times.
After killing the parents, Bailey fired a shot into the bedroom door where her brother had locked himself inside, according to the affidavit. "Mia stated that her brother was not her main target, but she would not have been sad had the gunshot killed him."
Officers from the Washington Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Utah Department of Public Safety launched an all-night search for Bailey. The search prompted a shelter-in-place alert for an area of St. George. Residents in the Bloomington Hills and Fort Pierce neighborhoods were asked to shelter in place for most of June 19.
Residents say a helicopter circled the area around Bloomington Hills toward the river around the Fort Pearce wash, apparently searching the field for Bailey, for most of the night through the next morning.
By 8 a.m., police received a report that Bailey "was possibly located in some bushes in an open field near the area of the new St. George temple," according to the affidavit. Some St. George residents in the area of 2800 East and 1000 South said they watched as Bailey was surrounded and eventually surrendered without further incident about 10:30 a.m.
After being arrested, Bailey told police "that she did not have remorse for her actions and that she would not change what she had done. Mia stated, 'I would do it again. I hate them,'" according to a police booking affidavit. "Mia told officers that she went to the residence with the intent to kill her parents."
