‘Cult mom’ Lori Vallow won’t face death penalty in trial for murdering her kids

The Idaho mother accused of murdering her two children will not face the death penalty, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Lori Vallow, 49, will face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, East Idaho News reported. She remains charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of Tylee Ryan, 16, and J.J. Vallow, 7. Her trial is scheduled to begin April 3.

“While we are disappointed and respectfully disagree with today’s decision, we will continue to vigorously pursue justice,” prosecutors told East Idaho News after Tuesday’s hearing concluded.

Vallow and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, are also accused of conspiring to kill Daybell’s ex-wife, Tammy. They were set for trial together until Judge Steven Boyce severed the two cases on March 2.

Vallow insisted on her right to a speedy trial, while Daybell’s attorneys asked for more time to prepare his defense. He could still face the death penalty.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Vallow’s defense attorneys argued several points for taking the death penalty off the table in her case: the massive amount of media attention, the late delivery of evidence by prosecutors and Vallow’s questionable mental state, local NBC affiliate KTVB reported.

Tylee and J.J. — Vallow’s children from previous relationships — disappeared in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found on Daybell’s property in Rexburg, Idaho.

In October 2019, one month after the children disappeared, Tammy Daybell was found dead at the home she and Chad shared in Idaho. An initial autopsy ruled she died of a “cardiac event.” However, investigators reopened the case after Tylee and J.J. disappeared. Authorities have not publicly revealed the details around Tammy’s death that led to the murder charges against Vallow and Daybell.

In July 2019, months before the children disappeared, Vallow’s brother Alex Cox fatally shot her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. Cox claimed he acted in self-defense, and was never charged with a crime before he died from a blood clot in December 2019.

During the Vallows’ divorce proceedings, Charles said Lori told him that “she was a God assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020 and that if [he] got in her way of her mission, she would murder him.”