Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for the murders of her two youngest children. She also received a life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of a romantic rival.
The 50-year-old Idaho mother was found guilty in May for killing two of her children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old JJ Vallow. She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, the spouse of Chad Daybell, whom she later married.
“I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused for others who looked for your children when you knew where they were and knew they were dead,” Judge Steven Boyce told Vallow Daybell during the sentencing hearing.
“They were found dead, burned, mutilated and dismembered, and buried like animals.”
Boyce determined that since all three murders took place at different times, Vallow Daybell should be held responsible for each one. Therefore the life sentences for murder would run consecutively.
She also received life sentences for conspiring to murder her two children and 10 years for grand theft.
The sentencing hearing was the first time both the judge and victims directly addressed Vallow Daybell.
“The most unimaginable type of murder is to have a mother murder her own children, and that’s exactly what you did,” Boyce told her. “It is the most shocking thing I can imagine.”
“You had so many other options,” the judge said. “You chose the most evil and destructive path possible.”
“You are a liar, an adulteress and a murderer, and because of the choices you made, my family lost a beloved mother, sister, aunt, and daughter,” Samantha Gwilliam, Tammy Daybell’s sister, said. “She was 1,000 times the woman you will ever dream of being.”
Vallow Daybell also addressed the court prior to her sentencing, but her plea did not help her case.
“Jesus knows me. And Jesus understands me. I mourn with all of you who mourn my children and Tammy. Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here. Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen,” she said.
“The first time JJ visited me after he passed away he put his arm around me and said to me ‘you didn’t do anything wrong, Mom. I love you and I know you loved me every minute of my life.’ JJ was an adult spirit and he was very tall when he put his arm around me. … He’s busy, engaged, he has jobs he’s doing there, he’s happy where he lives.”
“I look forward to the day we are all reunited and I too, will rest with them in the arms of my Jesus,” she said.
READ MORE:
- Police find human remains on Chad Daybell’s property hours after his arrest
- Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell charged with 1st degree murder in deaths of JJ, 7, and Tylee, 16
