Sgt Kevin Kight’s Killer Sentenced to Death

BAY COUNTY, FL – State Attorney Larry Basford announced that Robert J. Bailey was sentenced to death Thursday,July 10th for the 2005 murder of Panama City Beach Police Sgt. Kevin Kight, who was shot twice in the chest during a traffic stop.

Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay agreed with Basford’s assessment and a jury’s 9-3 recommendation in October that the aggravating factors accompanying the defendant’s crime far outweighed the mitigating factors in handing down the sentence.

Bailey, who had violated his parole, shot Kight twice in the chest during a traffic stop in 2005. He told his passenger he was going to “pop a cop” rather than go back to prison. He was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2007. The case was sent back for a new penalty phase following a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that affected death penalty cases across the state that did not have a unanimous vote. Florida law now requires at least an 8-4 vote.

“Two juries and two judges have agreed with us at the State Attorney’s Office again that the defendant should pay the ultimate price for killing Sgt. Kevin Kight … when he was on routine patrol protecting and trying to keep our community safe,” Basford said. “Judge Gay’s sentence today will hasten his date with destiny.

“Sgt. Kight’s family, and I, and a lot of other folks in our community look forward to the day that a needle is placed in the defendant’s arm and he is killed graveyard dead.”

Those in court to hear Judge Gay’s sentence included Kight’s family, Assistant Chief State Attorney Mark Graham and former State Attorney Steve Meadows (who both worked on the 2007 trial), and several Panama City Beach Police Officers.

Testimony at his October resentencing hearing showed the defendant, who will turn 43 next week on Death Row, had fled Wisconsin 5 months after his release from prison when he violated his parole. He was headed to Panama City Beach with friends for a “last hurrah.”

After he was stopped for a traffic violation by Kight on Easter Sunday, March 28, 2005, the defendant told a passenger he was not going back to prison. When Kight approached the vehicle, pulling his handcuffs from his belt, the defendant fired 3 times with 2 bullets hitting Kight in the chest. Both shots were fatal.

The defendant sped off, abandoned his vehicle a short distance away and was arrested the next morning.

Watch a video statement from State Attorney Larry Basford: