Lori Vallow Daybell sentencing: 'Doomsday' mom gets life in prison without parole

Lori Vallow Daybell said in court, "No one was murdered in this case."

Last Updated: July 31, 2023, 2:41 PM EDT

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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Jul 31, 2023, 12:40 PM EDT

Prosecutor: 'There's no rehabilitation possible'

Prosecutor Rob Wood said in court Monday, "What is the value of a human life? What is the value of a 16-year-old girl? … A 7-year-old boy with special needs? What is the value of a life of a mother and a grandmother?"

"We are calculating and assigning a value for the lives of Tylee Ryan, J.J. Vallow and Tammy Daybell," he said, noting that Lori Vallow Daybell "assigned a value of zero."

A picture of J.J. Vallow is part of a memorial to him, hung on fence opposite the property where his body was found in 2020, on April 4, 2023 near Rexburg, Idaho.
Natalie Behring/Getty Images, FILE

"This defendant violated the most sacred trust that exists in society -- that between a mother and her children. And she did it for gain -- she did it for money," he said. "A defendant who is willing to murder her own children is willing to murder anyone. Society can only be protected from this defendant by a life sentence without the possibility of parole. ... There's no rehabilitation possible."

Wood said Vallow Daybell can only be rehabilitated by "facing the consequences" of her crimes, which he said should be a life sentence without parole.

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

"The impact of the murder of Tylee was horrendous," Wood said.

The body of Vallow Daybell's 16-year-old daughter, Tylee, "was utterly destroyed, and she was buried in a pet cemetery next to animals," Wood said.

Seven-year-old J.J., Wood said, likely endured "fear and betrayal" in his last moments alive, and was then "buried like a piece of trash."

The former home of Chad Daybell, where the bodies of Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow were discovered in 2020, is seen on May 10, 2023 in Rexburg, Idaho.
Natalie Behring/Getty Images, FILE

Jul 31, 2023, 12:22 PM EDT

Vallow Daybell's son: 'I pray for healing'

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."

J.J.'s grandmother asked why Lori Vallow Daybell chose to adopt J.J., only to kill him a few years later.
J.J.'s grandmother asked why Lori Vallow Daybell chose to adopt J.J., only to kill him a few years later.

"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.

Tammy Daybell's aunt gave her statement through sobs as she spoke of her niece.
Tammy Daybell's aunt gave her statement through sobs as she spoke of her niece.

"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."

PHOTO: Chad Daybell listens during his preliminary hearing, Aug. 4 2020, in St. Anthony, Idaho.
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.