WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Southern reaches out to family of shooting victim
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Michael BaileyBy Caroline Moses - bio | email
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - There's a special surprise for a widow and her three young boys.
Michael Bailey left his family behind when he was killed last month helping a woman get home in San Francisco. Bailey was about to graduate from Southern University. Officials at the school found a way for Bailey's three sons to pick up where he left off. Now, they will not have to worry about the cost of college.
"We always talked about our dreams and ambitions and education was always a priority," said Deonne Bailey, the victim's widow.
Her husband was supposed to graduate with a degree in electrical engineering, but last month he and some friends took a last minute trip to San Francisco to visit a cousin. According to police there, the group was leaving a nightclub when a 21-year-old woman asked them for a ride home. That good deed ended in death when someone shot and killed Bailey.
"Just keep praying for our family because we need every prayer we can get," commented Theresa Bailey, the victim's mother.
Prayer helped bring Deonne and her three young boys back to the university Tuesday.
"Actually, me and Mike fell in love here at the Southern University campus. We were campus sweethearts, so...bear with me," she stated.
She said it's hard to express how much their alma matter impacted their lives. Then, an announcement added yet another layer.
"We have three Southern kids that we want to come here," said Southern University Foundation President Walter Dumas.
"To continue his legacy that is very appropriate that the scholarship be there. I see his beautiful children," expressed the victim's former engineering professor.
Southern University is giving all three of Bailey's children a full scholarship to college.
"That way, my grandsons can choose to follow their dad's footsteps," his mother added.
The Bailey family is still trying to accept what happened, but they say he would have been thrilled to learn how Southern is honoring him by helping his family.
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