Family members of Tammy, Tylee, JJ deliver victim impact statements ahead of Daybell sentencing

BOISE — Tears, falling down cheeks silently or through audible sobs, filled the courtroom where Chad Daybell's sentencing process began.

Daybell faced the beginning of the sentencing process on Friday morning, after he was found guilty of eight charges on Thursday afternoon, including conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, insurance fraud and grand theft in connection to the deaths of 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and Tammy Daybell. The jury deliberated on the verdict for six or seven hours, beginning on Wednesday evening.

The jury, after listening to witness impact statements, now must decide if Daybell will get the death penalty. The jury began deliberating on Daybell's sentence at around 2:30 p.m. Friday and could choose to work through the weekend if their deliberations on sentencing last beyond Friday evening.

Daybell’s current wife, Lori Vallow, was charged with the same crimes last year and was found guilty on all counts; she was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Nearly every victim cried during the delivery of their impact statement.  

"Murder, in and of itself, is not sufficient for the death penalty. There has to be something else beyond guilt," Prosecutor Rob Wood said during his opening statements on Friday morning. 

During his opening statements, Defense Attorney John Prior said that Daybell was a small-town boy who wrote books and raised five children with his wife Tammy. Around December 2018, something in Daybell changed — that change was a woman named Lori Vallow, Prior said. 

"From the mission, to marriage, to five kids— he doesn't have a lot of experience dealing with relationships, dealing with how to deal with people. When it comes to personal relationships, he wasn't a worldly man," Prior said. 

Daybell elected to not present evidence for himself during the sentencing.

On Friday morning, Judge Steven Boyce read out several potential aggravating factors that play a part in the case against Daybell, including that the murders of Tylee, J.J. and Tammy Daybell were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, that those murders were committed for remuneration or that Daybell convinced someone else to commit the murders for remuneration and that Daybell exhibited an utter disregard for human life. These aggravating factors are things the jury must consider during the sentencing phase of the trial. 

Several victims spoke to the jury in victim impact statements, including Tammy Daybell's father, Ron Douglass.

TAMMY'S FAMILY SPEAKS

Tammy lived one block away from Douglass until she moved to Idaho with Daybell. Their last visit to their grandkids was in March 2020.

Tammy Daybell died on Oct. 19, 2019. She was buried quickly but later exhumed from her grave. An autopsy found Tammy’s cause of death to be asphyxiation by homicide. Vallow and Daybell were married shortly after Tammy’s death, on Nov. 5, 2019.

A month before her death, Tammy’s life insurance was raised from $60,000 to $130,000. Daybell was the beneficiary of that money.

"The tragedy of the case has harmed our family's relationship with the kids," Douglass said, choking up a bit. "It makes me angry and destroys me to know Tammy was treated how she was."

Tammy's brother Matthew Douglass was the third victim to speak on Friday.

"We lived it, often minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day. For my little family...and especially for me, it has been a nightmare that you feel never ends," Matthew Douglass said. "... Every time I felt I started to grasp an element of control, if such a thing can exist, of my grief of the loss of my oldest sister, something new came along and ripped it open."  

Matthew said he still cannot wrap his head or heart around everything that has happened to his family and to Tammy. 

"Losing Tammy, who to me was the emotional heart and glue of our siblings group, was a slow and steady destruction of our family as we knew it," Matthew said. "Mom was so heartbroken that it seemed to accelerate and compound her chronic health issues."

Matthew's mother died last year on June 8. Many of Daybell's kids have cut off the Douglass side of the family during the course of this case, Matthew said. 

"Things will never be the same," Douglass said. 

J.J.'s GRANDMA SPEAKS

Kay Woodcock, J.J.'s grandmother, also prepared a victim impact statement.

"I sit here today, trying to explain the immense pain that me and everyone in my family continues to endure daily. But how can I do that? What words carry the strength and impact to really ensure you feel the joy and love that J.J. created and the impact of his death? There aren't any," Woodcock said. 

J.J. was last seen alive on Sept. 22, 2019. Both J.J and Tylee were found in Daybell’s backyard when it was searched on June 9 and 10, 2020. J.J’s body was wrapped in duct-tape. An autopsy found that he died of asphyxiation. 

The pain she feels is indescribable, Woodcock said. After J.J. was born 10 weeks early, the Woodcocks took him in and cared for him in their home. J.J. was born with drugs in his system, Woodcock said. 

"My pride in him knew no bounds," Woodcock said. "... My heart was so heavy with the disadvantage he was experiencing through no choice of his own."

Lori and Charles Vallow, one of her ex-husbands, were granted custody of J.J. in 2013 because his birth parents were unable to care for him. The Woodcocks' connection with J.J. after the change in custody remained strong, Woodcock said. They would visit every four to five months. Each time they visited, Woodcock recalls Lori thanking them for "the greatest gift ever" in giving her and Charles custody of J.J.

Lori's betrayal is one that "cannot be explained," Woodcock said. 

"Who would he have become? What kind of man would he have been?" Woodcock said. "We will never know, but we do know how incredibly special he was to us."

TYLEE RYAN

Annie Cushing, Lori's third husband Joseph Ryan's sister, also gave a victim impact statement. 

Tylee was last seen alive on Sept. 8, 2019. Tylee’s remains were burned and separated — parts of her remains have yet to be found. Because of the state of her remains, it’s unclear how she was killed.

Tylee and Cushing spent time together after Joseph Ryan's death in 2018. She described Tylee as a smart, clever, sarcastic and funny girl. The two had several talks during a trip and Cushing planned to fly Tylee to New York City for her 18th birthday.

"Her 18th birthday could not have been further from the celebratory event I had imagined, as her remains had recently been discovered in the defendant's backyard," Cushing said.   

The tragedy will always be surreal, Cushing said. 

"This case has been death by a thousand cuts," Cushing said, crying. "It's taken a toll on my family, my health and overall perspective."