'I’m praying': JJ Vallow's grandparents want Chad Daybell to face firing squad if convicted of murder
MADISON COUNTY, IDAHO: The grandfather of Joshua "JJ" Vallow, who was allegedly killed by his own mother Lori Vallow, said he wants her husband, Chad Daybell, to face the firing squad if he is convicted of murder in Idaho. Vallow and Daybell are accused of murdering her children, Joshua Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, who was last seen a few days before her 17th birthday. They are also charged in connection with the death of Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell.
Vallow’s trial started on Monday, April 3 while the date for Daybell's trial has not yet been scheduled. If found guilty, the mother will not be eligible for the death penalty but her husband might be, according to Daily Mail. Before Vallow’s trial, Republican governor Brad Little signed a bill legalizing execution by firing squad, making Idaho the most recent state to resort to other traditional means of death punishment amid a nationwide shortage of lethal-injection drugs.
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Larry Woodcock, JJ Vallow's grandfather, was asked during an interview on NewsNation's 'Banfield' program if he would be in favor of the new execution method in the event Daybell is convicted and sentenced to death. “Absolutely,” Woodcock said with a wide smile on his face. Larry and his wife Kay are still awaiting word on whether they will be permitted entry into the Boise, Idaho, courthouse before testifying against Vallow.
'I’m just praying to God'
Vallow's defense team is making efforts to fight them out of the court, arguing that they aren't legally the children's grandparents. Reflecting on the argument, Kay said the situation has left the couple feeling “powerless.” “Until maybe she’s put away, and then maybe we’ll gain some power back, I don’t know,” Kay told NewsNation. “I’m just praying to God … that Judge Boyce rules in our favor.”
The concerned grandmother previously said she knows Vallow is "not winning" the case. "I just want to stare her down and let her know that she’s not winning this one," she said, as Meaww reported earlier. Kay explained that JJ Vallow, who was born prematurely, was diagnosed with autism later. "He loved his mother and he was in love with his mother and just she, you know, little boys should be in love with their mother," she said, adding, "And it – it was very apparent. And she was so good with him – and patient – and she learned about his autism…She was engaged, she was loving, she was patient and she was everything a mother is supposed to be. And, people say: ‘Oh, y’all had to see something in her before then.’ Well, I never did."
What led to the triple murders?
Idaho law enforcement officers started investigating the couple after their extended family members reported the children missing in November 2019. After a long search, Joshua and Tylee’s bodies were found on Daybell’s property in rural Idaho. Police said during the investigation, the couple kept misguiding the cops and lied about the children’s whereabouts. It was also determined that Vallow and Daybell married just two weeks after Chad Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died unexpectedly.
The cause of Tammy Daybell's death was initially listed as natural causes, but Chad's hurried remarriage raised doubts, leading detectives to exhume the corpse. Vallow is separately charged in connection with the death of her previous husband, Charles Vallow, who died in July 2019. He was shot and killed by her brother, Alex Cox, who claimed it was self-defense.
According to Idaho police, Lori and her current husband Chad Daybell believed that her fourth husband Charles Vallow had to be murdered for the fulfillment of a religious prophecy. The "doomsday" mother also believed that the two children had to be killed as she thought they "had been possessed by a demon or another dark entity" and became "zombies."