Sooter, 41, of St. Charles plowed into the back of a Toyota 4Runner driven by Kathleen “Kay” Koutroubis near Chaminade College Preparatory School in Frontenac.

The crash jolted Koutroubis from the driver’s seat into her back seat, sending her out-of-control SUV careening into the left lane, where it collided with Bailey’s Mustang. At impact, police said, Bailey’s car was going 75 mph.

She died from her injuries.

Bailey, of an unincorporated area of St. Louis County near Creve Coeur, didn’t testify at his September trial, but his wife did. She said she rode in the front passenger seat, having just left a sports bar and that her husband maneuvered past a slow-moving, swerving BMW with a potentially drunken driver. She denied that her husband was racing and said she couldn’t gauge their speed or tell whether they were exceeding the 40 mph speed limit on Lindbergh.

Bailey, a personal injury lawyer with a Clayton law firm, did not take a blood-alcohol test after the crash. His attorney has said police did not seek a search warrant for Bailey’s blood.