The case of a transgender murderer in Utah took another startling twist as convicted killer Mia Bailey told a judge he has converted to Islam behind bars and deserves the death penalty after he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
The 30-year-old transgender man legally changed his name and sex in 2023, about a year before murdering his elderly parents Joseph and Gail Bailey, according to St. George News.
Convicted of the double murder in June of last year, Bailey had asked the judge not to appear at his Friday sentencing, saying that reliving the details of his crimes might result in a mental breakdown, according to numerous news reports.
The request denied, Bailey’s attorney Ryan Stout read a statement on his behalf, where the convicted killer revealed he had converted to Islam.
“Because of my religious beliefs as a Muslim, it would be appropriate to take my life for atonement for what I did,” his statement said.
Stout said Bailey had been diagnosed with “ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression, psychosis, possible bipolar disorder with psychosis, and schizophrenia,” according to a report by the Daily Mail.
Bailey confessed to gunning down his parents, Gail, 69 and Joseph, 70, inside their Utah home on June 18, 2024. Police found him 16 hours later following a widespread manhunt.
Authorities said Gail had been shot four times while Joseph had been shot twice in the head, also reporting Bailey broke into their home ahead of the slayings.
Bailey pled guilty to the homicides in November. The judge also sentenced Bailey for assault because after killing his parents he went downstairs and shot through the bedroom door where his brother was hiding.
Brother Dustin Bailey also spoke during the sentencing, alleging his brother’s psychiatric providers committed malpractice during his transition.
“We support LGBTQ rights fully. This has nothing to do with identity,” Dustin Bailey told the Court. ”Providing powerful hormones to a person in a psychiatric crisis without proper psychiatric safeguards is not affirming care. It is reckless. In this case, it acted as an accelerant, intensifying instability, impairing judgment, and compounding risk.”
“That failure harmed Mia and it endangered our parents,” he said.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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