Drunk-Driving Killer of CHP Officer Is Sentenced
08/05/2007
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In Victorville, California, the illegal alien who pleaded guilty in the February 2006 death of Officer Gregory "John" Bailey received 10 years in prison, the maximum term possible for the charges of gross vehicular manslaughter.

In court on Thursday, the convict Domingo Esqueda also heard victims' statements about how the death he caused has left a terrible hole in the lives of John Bailey's family and friends.

"I relive John's death in my nightmares," said Teresa Bailey. "My children have been sentenced to a life without their father."

She, Bailey's mother, best friend and a fellow officer spoke to a packed courtroom, half full of CHP officers struggling to hold back their emotions, about what John meant to them.

"I wish Mr. Esqueda could feel the pain that John felt as he lay on the side of the highway with 11 broken ribs, lacerations to his liver, spleen and kidneys, contusion and bleeding in both lungs and blood filling his abdomen," Teresa said. [CHP officer’s widow tells of loss, Victorville Daily Press 8/03/07]

Teresa and CHP Officer John Bailey

Photo: Terry Bailey hugged a CHP officer after Thursday's sentencing. Right: Officer Gregory John Bailey. Along with his wife Terry, Officer Bailey had four children in his immediate family: Hannah, 11; Megan, 10; Jared, 8; and Dylan, 7.

The accident which killed Officer Bailey occurred as he rode his motorcycle home from his shift and stopped a drunk driver. As the officer stood on the shoulder of the road, Esqueda's vehicle struck Bailey at a high rate of speed.

When arrested, Esqueda had a level of blood alcohol three times the legal limit and carried a Mexican identification card and various fake IDs with different names.

In addition to being a 10-year veteran of the CHP, John Bailey had recently returned from serving 14 months in Iraq as a helicopter mechanic with the California National Guard.

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