Summer Shiflet: Lori Vallow's sister slams 'cult mom' for 'dancing on beach' while her children were buried in ground 'like trash'
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
BOISE, IDAHO: During the trial for the murder of Joshua "JJ" Vallow and Tylee Ryan, Lori Vallow's sister tearfully criticized the cult mom for dancing on the beach while her children were buried in the ground "like trash" in a jailhouse call that was played in court on Tuesday, April 25. Summer Shiflet, who had previously defended Vallow on TV, demanded answers for her cruel act.
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, 16 in Rexburg, Idaho, in September 2019. Prosecutors claim Daybell's first wife, Tammy too was 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 burnt corpses were discovered on Daybell's property in June 2020. Two weeks after the bodies were found Shiflet called Vallow in jail, pleading to explain their deaths, and her disbelief over the charred remains of the children, fuming she was deceived by Daybell.
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'You were dancing on the beach while your kids were in the ground'
"You were dancing on the beach while your kids were in the ground," Shiflet sobbed uncontrollably, referring to their wedding pictures in Kauai. "In the ground like a piece of trash." "Lori I have been your best friend. Lori I love you. But there is nothing OK about this," Shiflet said. Vallow replied, "Nothing about this is OK Summer." Shiflet, who like Vallow was brought up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, continued, "I am telling you because I love you with all my heart please consider that Chad has lied and been deceived and that you have been deceived. There is nothing OK about killing children. And if you didn't kill them, you threw them away like garbage," Shiflet said.
"You threw [Tylee] in a pet cemetery, you know how degrading that is?!" She implored her sister, "Please consider that you have been deceived. That's not Christ-like, there is nothing good in that, that's not a test. They were innocent and they were loved." Shiflet ended the call by telling her sister to "come up with an explanation publicly," as per Daily Mail.
Summer Shiflet fumes at sister Lori Vallow for allegedly killing her children
During the trial Shiflet took the stand, sobbingly discussing the heart-wrenching plight while Vallow continued to deny any wrongdoing without providing an explanation. "I just can't understand, I don't understand. I want to believe the best in you, I really do. It breaks my heart. They were just little kids, I don't understand," Shiflet tearfully said. Vallow replied calmly, "You know me Summer you still do."
Shiflet told her, "I don't know you because you have never done anything like that." Shiftlet further added she would have cared for the children if she was unable to look after them. "We would have took them, we would have taken care of them. I don't know what to think - you haven't told us anything. You cut me and mom off for four months," Shiflet said. "You expect me to just keep believing without ever having a question ... I would have taken Tylee and JJ in a heartbeat and everyone else would have. You know that." Vallow responded by telling her not to believe the media coverage. "Nobody knows I am sorry Summer," said the cult mom adding, "Nobody knows what I have been through." Shiflet allegedly responded, "Nobody knows except for you and the Lord."
The sister then questioned how could Vallow become so obsessed with her deranged doomsday beliefs that she would think killing her own children was justified. "I don't have one scripture that says it's OK for children to be thrown away like garbage in the ground. There is nothing in the scripture that says it's OK to hurt a child," Shiflet said. "It's the most selfish thing. I can't think of anything worse."
