Lori Vallow update: Will the mom stand trial for murdering her kids?
Right after Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow were formally charged with murdering Vallow’s children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, we got another update. After a mandated psychiatric evaluation, Lori Vallow has been declared incompetent to stand trial.
The new charges confirmed what authorities and people following the case suspected for a long time. Although the evidence investigators unearthed hasn’t been revealed yet, circumstantial evidence seemed to uphold allegations that Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow were responsible for Tylee & JJ’s deaths.
JJ & Tylee were both seen last in September 2019. Tylee was last seen at Yellowstone Park on vacation on September 9th, and JJ was last seen on September 23rd at school. The following day, Lori Vallow suddenly de-enrolled him. After not hearing from Lori Vallow or her children, JJ & Tylee’s grandparents called authorities for a welfare check.
Lori Vallow didn’t come clean with her children’s whereabouts when police asked. After demanding she produce her children, Lori Vallow provided no update on her children’s whereabouts, so authorities charged her with child desertion & nonsupport and extradited her from Hawaii to Idaho to stand trial. She and her husband had reportedly told neighbors in Hawaii that they had no children.
After they were arrested, family friends disclosed that Chad Daybell believed JJ & Tylee had become possessed by demons. Also, JJ & Tylee’s remains were found on Chad Daybell’s property. According to testimony, they were found in plastic bags.
Possible history of mental illness
This isn’t the first time Lori Vallow has been reported to have a mental illness. Charles Vallow, JJ’s biological father, tried to seek treatment for Lori in 2017, when she made claims she was commanded to lead 144,000 people hand-picked by God through the apocalypse. The number refers to a passage in Revelation, prophesying that only 144,000 people will be resurrected as “the righteous dead”, and everyone else will burn.
Charles Vallow was ultimately unsuccessful in getting his wife to receive treatment, and a short time later, Charles Vallow was killed by Lori’s brother, Alex Cox. The killing was ruled as self-defense, but an update on the case emerged yesterday, when Chandler police unveiled charges against Lori Vallow regarding Charles’s death.
Chandler police are now charging Vallow with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and the charges are under review with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. It’s unclear whether Lori Vallow’s psych evaluation will have any bearing on these new charges.
Restorative treatment
In lieu of Lori Vallow’s psychiatric evaluation, her trial has been put on indefinite hold. Prosecutors are planning on appealing the evaluation, though their exact grounds for appeal are unclear.
Instead, Lori Vallow has been ordered to undergo treatment, though People Magazine stated it’s unclear what kind of treatment she will receive at this time. “At this time, the defendant is not competent to proceed, and recommends restorative treatment”, Judge Steven Boyce wrote in his order to halt court proceedings. The prosecution’s appeal to the psychiatric evaluation will be held, but it’s unclear when it’s scheduled for.
Chad Daybell update
According to East Idaho News, Chad Daybell is scheduled to appear in court on June 9th to enter a plea to the murder charges. Not only is he charged with murdering JJ & Tylee, but he’s also charged with murdering his ex-wife Tammy Daybell.
Tammy’s death was initially ruled as natural causes, but after JJ and Tylee’s disappearance and Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow’s marriage shortly after, investigators exhumed her body and found evidence of foul play.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow were known to be members of doomsday groups, including Preparing a People. Daybell wrote & spoke on the subject of the apocalypse and claimed he received visions & messages. Shortly before Tammy’s death, Chad Daybell said he received a prophecy that she would die soon.
