A parent killing their own children "is the most shocking thing really that I can imagine," Judge Steven W. Boyce said Monday, sentencing Lori Vallow Daybell to life in prison with no hope of parole for the murders of her two youngest children. Vallow Daybell, who was found guilty in May, received three life sentences, to be served consecutively—one each for the murders of 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and one for conspiring to murder Tammy Daybell, ex-wife of her husband, Chad Daybell. He'll be tried separately for the killings.
Vallow Daybell, dubbed the "doomsday mom" because of her apocalyptic beliefs, justified the murders by "going down a bizarre religious rabbit hole, and clearly you are still down there," the Idaho judge told her, per the AP. In remarks during the sentencing hearing, Vallow Daybell quoted Bible verses about not judging people. She claimed she had "access to heaven and the spirit world" and was visited regularly by the spirits of her dead children and her "eternal friend" Tammy Daybell. Vallow Daybell was also convicted of grand theft for continuing to collect Social Security benefits on behalf of her children after their deaths in 2019.
A victim impact statement from Colby Ryan, Vallow Daybell's only surviving son, was read by prosecutors Monday, CNN reports. "Tylee and JJ brought so much light into this world," he said. "Tylee will never have an opportunity to become a mother, wife, or have the career she was destined to have. She'll never be able to have the life she deserved. JJ will never be able to grow and spread his light with this world the way he did. He will never have a chance to grow up." Vallow Daybell faces two more criminal cases in Arizona, on charges of conspiring to kill her fourth husband and her niece's ex-husband. (More Lori Vallow stories.)
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