Lori Vallow trial: JJ's aunt devastated after seeing slain nephew's graphic photos, says 'it was torture'
Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised
BOISE, IDAHO: During the trial of "cult mom" Lori Vallow, the jury was presented with graphic images and harrowing testimony which became too much for some family members of her alleged victims to bear. The paternal biological aunt of slain seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow, Kresha Kay Easton said she had to force herself to stay in the courtroom when a series of images of the boy's decomposed remains were shown on a screen earlier this month.
Lori Vallow and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, have both been charged with multiple counts of murder and grand theft in connection with the deaths of JJ and his older half-sister Tylee Ryan, 16. Both the children disappeared within a few weeks in September 2019 and were found buried in shallow graves in Daybell's backyard months later in Rexburg, Idaho, in June 2020.
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What did JJ's aunt say?
"I thought I was stronger, or tougher, or that I could just face that and I could not," she said according to The Sun. "They started showing some really graphic photos and so I put my earbuds in, grabbed my phone, and just put on whatever I could find on YouTube so I couldn't see or hear. I was doing everything I could to just hold it together long enough for the next break. It was so triggering and I felt like I had to leave [but] I couldn't. I told myself, 'No, don't leave you have to be strong.' But it was torture being in there."
Kresha has been present throughout Lori's trial along with Kay and Larry Woodcock, her mom and stepdad, and JJ's grandparents. On April 11, on day two of the trial, Rexburg Police Detective Ray Hermosillo took to the stand to testify about how investigators discovered the remains of JJ and Tylee.
The harrowing graphic images
Hermosillo's evidence was extremely graphic and included a series of photographs showing the children’s remains as they were excavated from Daybell’s property and pictures taken during their subsequent autopsies. JJ was seen wearing red pajamas and socks in one of the images with duct tape covering his mouth and his arms and legs bound together. His remains were found buried near a tree, partially decomposed, and wrapped in plastic bags.
Tylee's remains had been destroyed and burned, packed into a melted green bucket, and buried at various different locations on the grounds. Kresha only glanced briefly up at one of the images of her murdered nephew. She said that it was an image that will haunt her forever.
'You can't unsee it'
"You can't unsee it," confessed Kresha. "There was nothing recognizable of Tylee. They were showing a picture on a projector and telling us, 'This is where Tylee was,' and I'm looking at a hole [in the ground]. I'm looking for Tylee and I just don't see her. That's how horrible it is. They tried to erase her almost and it's very difficult [to understand]. Then I saw pictures of Tammy being exhumed. That was horrific. They left that picture up there a little too long, in my opinion, and then there was my baby nephew, right there up on the screen."
She continued, "I saw the red shirt and the duct tape, and I really didn't stare at it, it just caught the corner of my eye. I don't know if it was easier to see Tylee because I couldn't recognize her [remains], but I could recognize JJ. It triggered me."