Lori Vallow trial: JJ's aunt Kresha Easton had 'crazy dream' about nephew's death months before his body was found
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
MADISON COUNTY, IDAHO: Lori Vallow's slain son, Joshua "JJ" Vallow's aunt, Kresha Kay Easton, apparently had a premonition in a way of a dream that the seven-year-old was dead, long before his body was eventually discovered months later. Vallow, 49, and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, stand accused of a sick plot, fueled by their religious beliefs, to "mercy kill" JJ, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16 in Rexburg, Idaho, in September 2019. Aunt Kresha said, "I already felt [that JJ was gone]."
Prosecutors claim Daybell's first wife, Tammy who they first believed died of natural causes but later found dead due to asphyxiation, was too murdered by the pair, for Social Security and insurance funds before fleeing to Hawaii to get married. At the time, the children were reported missing until their dismembered and burnt corpses were discovered on Daybell's property in June 2020.
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(Fremont County Sherif's office/ Madison County Sheriff's office)
JJ's aunt's worst nightmare had turned into reality
Kay Woodcock, who is JJ's grandmother and Kresha Kay Easton's mother, was the first to report the boy's disappearance to the authorities requesting a welfare check. When the police went to Vallow's residence to investigate the boy's disappearance, she informed them that he was safe and staying with a family friend in Arizona, only to later find out that Tylee was also missing. The children's disappearance comes months after JJ's adoptive father and Vallow's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was shot dead in Arizona by her brother Alex Cox. He claimed to police it was self-defense after Charles had charged at him with a baseball bat, but Kresha and her family suspected foul play insisting her uncle was not of a violent nature.
Kresha, in the days before Christmas Eve, had a very intense and emotional dream about JJ and her uncle Charles. "I couldn't see JJ's face, he was facing the other way, but Uncle Charles was looking down to the side and just doting on him - just in the way he was in love with his son," she said. "And I just got this feeling that they were moving away from me but they'd found each other. And I woke up and I was just like, 'Oh my God!' I already felt it," Kresha added. "I already felt [that JJ was gone]," reported The Sun. The aunt wanted to let her parents know about the dream but it wasn't until Christmas Eve she told her mother after JJ's gift was left untouched.
Kresha noticed a pair of shark pajamas bought by Kay and Larry for JJ lying untouched and unclaimed to the side. "I know those pajamas are in my mom's closet to this day," said the aunt. "And [after noticing them] I sat back and shared this dream with them, and my mom said, 'Well if that's what happened I'm glad they found each other.' But still you dismiss that. That's off the table. You don't lose hope. You don't want to be right, but it was. [The message] was they were on the other side of the veil [...] it was really beautiful. That gives me closure and taught me to trust my gut."
'I pray there’s DNA under his nails and it nails Chad and Lori both!'
After six months Kresha's nightmare had turned into a reality after JJ and Tylee's remains were found on June 9, 2020, at Daybell's property. Jurors heard and saw graphic images of how the remains of JJ were discovered in a shallow grave, which had been covered with plastic bags and duct tape. He was suffocated to death by a plastic bag being taped around his head and marks found on JJ's fingers and neck, suggested that he had put up a fight in his final moments. While Tylee's body was dismembered with a pickaxe and burned. The remains of the 16-year-old were reportedly found in a melted green bucket and scattered across different locations on Daybell's property.
"It’s absolutely devastating to hear these things, especially when it’s my nephew, an innocent child who loved his mama and depended on her for his life and for his safety," said Kresha. "Thank God he had Tylee and Tylee had him to cling onto. I’ve never doubted my nephew fought for his life. He was a tall and husky seven-year-old and as subtle as an elephant like his aunt Kresha." She then noted how the cult mom never clipped JJ's fingernails and that he had "longer nails" than usual. "I pray there’s DNA under his nails and it nails Chad and Lori both," Kresha said.
She added, "JJ fought to come into this world being 10 weeks premature and with drugs in his body and I can guarantee that he fought to stay in this world as [he was being murdered]. It both pisses me off and breaks my heart when I see and hear how JJ and his beautiful sister were snuffed out of this world."
Vallow and Daybell are charged with murder in connection with the deaths of JJ and Tylee and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Chad's late wife Tammy. In addition, Vallow is facing additional conspiracy to commit murder charges related to the death of Charles, and she will face trial at a later date in Arizona.