Nearly one year after Lori Vallow was deemed incompetent to stand trial following a psychiatric evaluation, the mom has issued a not guilty plea.
Currently, Vallow is accused of partnering up with her husband, Chad Daybell to kill her two children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan. JJ was only 7 years old. Tyler was 17.
Immediately following her psychiatric evaluation, Lori was admitted into a psychiatric hospital. According to East Idaho News, Vallow was cared for by the Department of Health and Welfare. She underwent treatment to “restore her mental competency.”
On April 19, 2022, Lori appeared in court yet again. This time to enter a plea.
According to USA Today, also in the Idaho courthouse was Lori’s husband, Chad. Chad’s hearing was to discuss where his trial will take place. He has since pleaded not guilty.
Vallow is currently charged with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tyler, as well as Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. She is also charged in Arizona with conspiring to kill her former estranged husband, Charles Vallow, with the help of her now-deceased brother, Alex Cox.
Lori Vallow, Mom Accused of Killing Her 2 Children, Refuses to Verbally Enter Plea so Judge Does It For Her
As USA Today reports, Lori kept her head down for most of the hearing and spoke softly when prompted. However, when it came time to enter her plea, she refused to speak.
As a result, Judge Steven Boyce, who has been presiding over the case, entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. The judge so after iterating to Lori that she could face the death penalty or life in person if convicted of the charges against her.
The decision to admit Vallow comes after Judge Boyce put a stay on her criminal case due to her competency being called into question. “The court finds that the Defendant does lack (the) capacity to make informed decisions about treatment,” Boyce wrote in the order. “The court finds that the defendant is not dangerously mentally ill.”
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, prior to their bodies being discovered in June 2020 on property owned by Chad Daybell, JJ and Tylee had been missing since September 2019. Daybell was a gravedigger, who also authored religion-based books about “prophecy and the end of the world.”
Vallow, according to several reports, believed she was the reincarnation of God and that her children were Zombies. In the past, police were told Vallow reportedly used to tell people that Tylee “died years ago.” It was only after JJ’s grandparents requested a wellness check on their grandson that they were reported missing.
The grandparents, who were in court on April 19 as Lori entered a not guilty plea, requested the check in November 2019, but the last time anyone saw JJ or Tylee was in September 2019.
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, J.J. was last seen on September 23, 2019, after Vallow reportedly pulled him out of school saying she was preparing to homeschool him. And Tylee was last seen on September 8, 2019 while on a trip to Yellowstone.
One month after the children went missing and just two weeks after Tammy mysteriously died, Vallow and Daybell wed in Hawaii. Daybell is Vallow’s fifth husband.