Unremorseful woman brutally killed parents, tried to kill brother, police say

By Pat Reavy

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    WASHINGTON, Washington County (KSL) — A woman who allegedly told police she hated her parents and had no remorse was arrested Wednesday and accused of brutally shooting her parents multiple times, killing them inside their Washington home, prompting an all-night manhunt before she was finally found and booked into jail.

Mia Bailey, 28, who legally had her name and gender changed last year in 5th District Court from Collin Troy Bailey, was arrested for investigation of two counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, seven counts of shooting a gun and aggravated burglary.

The victims of Tuesday’s fatal shootings were identified as Joseph and Gail Bailey.

Mia 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.”

Richard Zyszkiewicz lives in the area where the shooting occurred and said there has been “volatility and bad vibes” going on within the family. Bailey also told police about “strained relationships with multiple other family members. Multiple family members told law enforcement that they were afraid of Mia. These family members all sought alternative lodging for the night to ensure their safety.”

According to police, emergency dispatchers received a call just after 7 p.m. Tuesday from Bailey’s brother of shots fired at 1039 E. Chinook Drive in the city of Washington.

“It was advised that the reporting party believed that his parents had been shot upstairs in his home. The reporting party was currently at a neighbor’s home after fleeing from the house when he heard the gunshots,” the affidavit states.

Responding officers found the front door partially open and immediately entered.

Multiple shell casing were found on the first floor near the stairs and the front room area, police said. The body of Gail Bailey was found on the first floor, and her husband’s body was located in the hallway leading to the master bedroom, the affidavit says.

Police say a neighbor’s security camera recorded Bailey arriving at her parent’s home in her Kia Soul. After her arrest, she gave detectives gruesome details of the killings, stating “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 early Wednesday. 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 Wednesday morning.

Just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, police received a report that Bailey was seen in the area of Horseman Park and River Road in St. George.

“Officers were on scene and observed Mia to be walking north toward the Painted Desert subdivision through the wash. Mia was given commands to stop, and she retrieved a handgun from her waistband and placed it to her head, continuing to walk away from officers, ignoring their commands. Officers lost sight of Mia as she went into the thick brush in the wash/ravine,” the arrest report states.

The shelter-in-place order was lifted about 7 a.m. 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 say they watched as Bailey was surrounded and eventually surrendered without further incident about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“Mia describes jumping fences or walls, hiding in bushes, sleeping in a park bathroom, and other efforts to elude law enforcement. Mia bragged about her ability to avoid the efforts of law enforcement to locate her, including evading officers, hiding from helicopters and hiding from drones,” police wrote in the affidavit.

Bailey filed a petition in 5th District Court in July 2023 to legally change her name and gender, according to court records. Bailey was granted both in August 2023 with the court order noting that “the petition is supported by clear and convincing objective evidence of appropriate clinical care or treatment for gender transitioning or change, provided by a licensed medical professional” and that “there is clear and convincing evidence (Bailey) has transitioned to the sex sought in the petition in a consistent and uniform manner for at least six months.”

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