Lori Vallow Daybell was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for the killing of two of her children in what prosecutors argued was a doomsday plot.
The judge had previously granted the defense's motion to dismiss the death penalty in the case.
Vallow Daybell, 50, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 2019 deaths of her children, Joshua "J.J." Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16, whose remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to her husband, Chad Daybell, following a monthslong search.
She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her children and her husband's first wife, Tamara Daybell, who died on Oct. 19, 2019, less than a month before Lori and Chad married in Hawaii.
A statement was read in court on behalf of Vallow Daybell's only surviving child, Colby Ryan.
"Tylee and J.J. brought so much light into this world," Ryan said. "My girls will never have a chance to know them."
"I want them to be remembered for who they were," he said.
"Tylee was sweet and kind, funny and bold," Ryan said, while J.J. was "the most fun, sweet and silly kid I've ever known."
"I pray for healing for everyone involved, including those who took the lives of all the ones we loved," he said.
Jul 31, 2023, 12:18 PM EDT
JJ's grandmother speaks of 'depravity, cruelty and betrayal'
J.J. Vallow’s grandmother, Kay Woodcock, spoke in court Monday about what she called Lori Vallow Daybell's "cruel campaign of terror."
"J.J. and Tylee could have been with us living happy lives," she said as she started to cry.
A boy looks at a memorial for Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, at Porter Park in Rexburg, Idaho, June 11, 2020.
The Idaho Post-Register via AP, File
"Instead she took all that away," she said, calling Vallow Daybell a "monster."
"Today I take the power back by standing here, speaking out loud about all the pain and loss she's caused," Woodcock said.
Woodcock recalled the birth of J.J., who was born premature and with illicit substances in his system. "As soon as I laid my eyes on him I knew he was my grandson," she said.
Kay Woodcock, center, and Larry Woodcock, right, address the media outside court at a hearing for Lori Vallow Daybell, March 6, 2020, in Rexburg, Idaho.
Pool/The Idaho Post-Register via AP
"He was a champion and oh so very special," she said through tears.
Lori Vallow Daybell and her then-husband, Charles Vallow, later adopted J.J.
Woodcock and her husband would still often visit, and she noted that her "incredibly smart," compassionate and empathetic grandson "had an innate and unbroken attachment to us."
Woodcock, choked up, said, "That same mother murdered that same child she expressed deep appreciation for. It is mind-boggling."
2:45
Kay Woodcock reflects on grandson JJ Vallow's life during her impact statement
J.J.'s grandmother asked why Lori Vallow Daybell chose to adopt J.J., only to kill him a few years later.
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"What did Lori deprive the world of?" she said.
"I will only have the precious memories to cling to," she said through tears.
Lori Vallow Daybell's daughter, Tylee, was 9 when J.J. became her little brother. "She doted on him and J.J. loved every minute of attention," Woodcock said.
Vallow Daybell was found guilty of the first-degree murders of J.J., 7, and Tylee, 16, who were killed in 2019.
J.J.'s "life was expendable to [Vallow Daybell]," Woodcock said. "His materialistic, self-centered mother cruelly and brutally stole his life -- and him from the world. Lori's acts of depravity, cruelty and betrayal have no limits."
When J.J. and Tylee were missing, "fears continued to mount daily," Woodcock said.
When she learned J.J. and Tylee had been "buried like animals" in Chad Daybell's backyard, Woodcock said she let out a "guttural" sound.
"We were destroyed," she said.
Woodcock called Vallow Daybell "a danger to society."
"She is driven by her greed and her need to be the center of attention," she said.
She said she believes Vallow Daybell should be sentenced to life in prison.
Jul 31, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT
Tammy Daybell 'taken from us by murdering thieves'
Vicki Hoban, the aunt of Chad Daybell's wife Tammy Daybell, who died of asphyxiation in 2019 less than one month before Chad and Lori Daybell married, gave a victim impact statement through tears on Monday.
3:22
Vicki Hoban gives impact statement at Lori Vallow Daybell's sentencing
Tammy Daybell's aunt gave her statement through sobs as she spoke of her niece.
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"Tammy was a most excellent person and she led her life with the utmost dignity," Hoban said. "There will be a huge void."
Her niece was "brutally executed in her own bed," Hoban said as she wept, "taken from us by murdering thieves."
Chad Daybell listens during his preliminary hearing, Aug. 4 2020, in St. Anthony, Idaho. Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell were each indicted by a grand jury on May 24, 2021, on charges of conspiracy, murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of Lori Daybell's two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan. Chad Daybell was also charged with one count of murder in connection with the death of his late wife, Tammy Daybell, just weeks before Lori and Chad married.
The Idaho Post-Register/Pool via AP, FILE
Lori Vallow Daybell talks with her lawyers before the jury's verdict is read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, May 12, 2023.
Kyle Green/AP, FILE
Tammy Daybell was "robbed of her entire life," she said, and "all her family robbed of ever seeing her again."
"Heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, unbearable is not a big enough statement," she said. "The most innocent of lives was simply discarded like it meant nothing."
Hoban said Vallow Daybell turned her niece's "home into a cemetery," adding, "Tammy would have been horrified to know what you have done -- and it's broken us as a family."
Chad Daybell is charged with Tammy Daybell's murder and conspiracy to commit murder and pleaded not guilty. Vallow Daybell was found guilty of conspiracy to commit Tammy Daybell's murder.
Jul 31, 2023, 11:40 AM EDT
Tammy Daybell's sister: 'My family has been ripped apart'
Samantha Gwilliam, the sister of Chad Daybell's wife Tammy Daybell, who died of asphyxiation in 2019 less than one month before Chad and Lori Daybell married, took the stand to give a victim impact statement.
Gwilliam testified that Chad Daybell told her that he'd married Vallow Daybell two weeks after her "beloved sister," Tammy Daybell, was buried, and claimed the new couple then told lie after lie.
"Because of you and your desire to get what you want at any cost, my family has been ripped apart. I helped raise Tammy's children and because of you they no longer have their mother or grandmother," Gwilliam said.
Choked up, she said her relationship with Tammy and Chad Daybell's children is "strained and most contact with them is gone" she said.
"Your trial is the last thing my ailing mother had to live through," she said, adding that her death in June "was marred by the fact that Tammy's children chose not to participate in her funeral by fear of causing more drama."
"We blame you and Chad for all the lies you told in ripping apart this family," she said.
"I choose to forget you … I choose to never think of you again," she said.
Gwilliam also read a statement on behalf of her father, Ronald Douglas.
"Tammy's death was unexpected and had a profound impact on all of us," Douglas' statement said, adding "we were barely into our recovery process" when learning that Chad Daybell had remarried weeks later.
3:32
'I choose to forget you,' Tammy Daybell's sister tells Lori Vallow Daybell
Samantha Gwilliam was one of many who give victim impact statements on the day of Vallow Daybell's sentencing.
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"The emotional stress" accelerated Tammy Daybell's mother's declining health, he noted.
"The eternal ramifications of [Vallow Daybell's] actions are yet to be calculated. Lori needs to pay," he said.
Chad Daybell is charged with Tammy Daybell's murder and conspiracy to commit murder and pleaded not guilty. Vallow Daybell was found guilty of conspiracy to commit Tammy Daybell's murder.
