‘My daughter shot me’: Tarrant woman killed her mother, grandmother over money
On the day before Thanksgiving in 2023, three distinct cracks of gunfire erupted from a mobile home on a cul-de-sac in southern Tarrant County.
Kaitlyn Bailey first shot her mother, twice.
Then she went to her 84-year-old grandmother’s bedroom on the other side of the front entry and turned the Glock 48 handgun on her.
Bailey returned to where her mother lay and fired again before leaving the house and driving off.
The mother, mortally wounded, was able to call 911.
“My daughter shot me and my mom,” Shari Bailey, who was 60, told a 911 call-taker, according to the account developed by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
Shari Bailey died at a hospital about four hours later. The grandmother, Bertha Bailey, also died at the hospital. Each had been shot in the torso.
Kaitlyn Bailey, who was 25 at the time of the killings, pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of murder.
Adhering to a plea agreement that the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office reached with Bailey, Judge Vincent Giardino of the 396th District Court sentenced her to life in prison.
Motives in the double murder
Bailey had arrived at the family’s home that morning demanding money. When her mother refused, she killed her, authorities have said.
Bailey was indicted on capital murder under the allegation that the killings occurred during a robbery. Had a jury found Bailey guilty of that offense at trial, she would have been automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole. The state waived the death penalty.
The shootings occurred about 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2023, at the house in the 3900 block Joalene Court, in the Rendon community.
Shari Bailey was able to tell the 911 call-taker that she had been shot three times with her own handgun. She could not describe her mother’s injuries because she could not move to get to her.
She also said her daughter had taken the gun when she drove off in a Ford Fusion, according to the affidavit.
Kaitlyn Bailey was arrested two days later in Callahan County, about 140 miles west of Fort Worth. She confessed in an interview with two law enforcement officers, according to the Sheriff’s Office account.
During the interview, Bailey admitted going to her mother’s home for a vehicle and money, Detective Kelly Holland wrote in the affidavit.
An argument ensued, then gunfire.
