Layton man facing capital murder charges in deaths of wife, in-laws

LAYTON, Utah — A Layton man accused of killing his wife and in-laws in his home, and then allegedly going to the store to buy more ammunition and posting about what he had done on Facebook before calling 911, could face the death penalty.

On Thursday, three counts of aggravated murder, a capital offense, were filed against Jeremy Bailey, 34, in 2nd District Court. According to charging documents, “Aggravated murder is a capital felony punishable by death if a notice of intent to seek the death penalty is filed by the prosecutor within 60 days of the arraignment of the defendant.”

In addition, Bailey was charged with two counts of firing a gun causing serious injury, a first-degree felony; and three counts of torture of a companion animal, a third-degree felony.

On May 19, Bailey called 911 from his home, 1832 E. Gentile St., to report “that he had shot his wife, his mother-in-law, his father-in-law, and three of the four family dogs,” according to charging documents. Emergency responders later found the bodies of 36-year-old Anastasia Stevens, 61-year-old Becky Stevens and 73-year-old Donald Stevens inside in an upstairs portion of the home, dead of gunshot wounds.

Anastasia Stevens and Becky Stevens were shot twice, and Donald Stevens once, the charges state.

When officers arrived, Bailey was still on the phone with 911 dispatchers. He was arrested without further incident and taken to the Layton Police Department to be questioned.

“While in a holding cell, Bailey said ‘I can’t believe I did it,'” the charges state.

Charging documents released Thursday also reveal more information about Bailey’s shocking behavior that day, and that the killings may have happened much earlier than originally thought.

“Through investigation, officers determined after shooting the victims and before calling 911, Bailey went to Sportsman’s Warehouse and purchased a box of 9mm hollow point ammunition, then proceeded to post about his actions on (Anastasia’s) Facebook page before calling 911 to tell operators what he had done,” charging documents state.

Prosecutors have requested that Bailey be held without bail pending trial.

“At no point did he show remorse for his actions. The defendant instead asked police if they thought this would ‘hit the news.’ There are no conditions of release possible to protect the public as the defendant has shown a complete disregard for human and animal life.”