Mia Bailey, 30, was sentenced on Dec. 19, 2025, to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life plus up to five years for aggravated assault after pleading guilty to fatally shooting her parents in June 2024. Police say she broke into her parents' Washington City home, shot her father and mother multiple times, and fired through her brother’s bedroom door. Her defense cited multiple serious mental-health diagnoses and asked for concurrent sentences; her brother testified that medical treatments during a psychiatric crisis worsened her instability. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide Bailey's final time behind bars.
Utah Woman Sentenced To Potential Life In Prison After Pleading Guilty To Parents' Murders
COURT TV/YoutubeMia Bailey in court
A Utah woman faces the possibility of spending the rest of her life behind bars after admitting she fatally shot her parents in June 2024. On Dec. 19, 2025, 30-year-old Mia Bailey was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life for the murders of her parents, Joseph and Gail Bailey, plus up to five years for an aggravated assault conviction.
Sentence And Charges
Bailey was given two consecutive sentences of 25 years to life — one for each parent — and an additional term of up to five years for aggravated assault. She had been arrested on June 19, 2024, and charged by the Washington City Police Department with 11 felony counts related to the double homicide and the attempted murder of her brother.
Details Of The Crime
According to police reports, the shootings occurred after Bailey broke into her parents' home in Washington City on June 18, 2024. Investigators say she shot her father, Joseph Bailey, twice in the head and her mother, Gail Bailey, four times. Authorities also allege Bailey went downstairs and fired through her brother's bedroom door while he and his wife were inside; she reportedly told police she did not care if the shot killed her brother.
Washington City Police Dept.Mia Bailey
Mental-Health Claims And Court Statements
Bailey pleaded guilty in November 2025 and admitted in court documents that she "intentionally" shot and killed her parents. Her defense attorney, Ryan Stout, asked the judge to impose concurrent sentences rather than consecutive terms, arguing that Bailey had no prior criminal record and suffers from serious mental-health conditions. Stout told the court Bailey has diagnoses that include autism, psychosis, schizophrenia, ADHD, OCD and possibly bipolar disorder, and he said those conditions left her "functioning at the cognitive and emotional level of a young child."
"I am sincerely, deeply sorry," Bailey said in a brief statement at sentencing, according to reporting.
Bailey's brother, Dustin, also spoke at the hearing. While affirming his family's support for LGBTQ rights, he told the court he believes certain medications and hormone therapy prescribed during a psychiatric crisis worsened her instability. He said those treatments "acted as an accelerant, intensifying instability, impairing judgment and compounding risk," and that the failures in care harmed Mia and endangered their parents.
What Comes Next
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will ultimately determine how long Bailey will remain incarcerated beyond the court-imposed minimums. Local outlets contacted the Washington County Attorney's Office for comment.
Sources: Court filings and local reporting from KUTV, ABC4, KSL, and The Salt Lake Tribune.
