Mom convicted in deaths of 2 kids and romantic rival faces new Arizona charge

PHOENIX (AP) — A woman who was convicted in Idaho last week in the deaths of her two children and a romantic rival has been indicted for a second time in Arizona, this time on charges that she conspired to kill her niece’s ex-husband.

Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty last week of conspiring to kill and killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. The case included bizarre claims that she called her son and daughter zombies and said she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.

She was already facing a separate felony case in Arizona, after a grand jury indicted her in 2021 on a charge of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.

A second Arizona indictment was unsealed this month that charges Vallow Daybell with conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux.

Charles Vallow was shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, on July 11, 2019. Police say Cox shot at Boudreaux on Oct. 2, 2019, but missed.

The Maricopa County prosecutor’s office on Wednesday confirmed the indictment charging Vallow Daybell in the attempted shooting of Boudreaux. The indictment was first reported by Phoenix television station Fox10.

Under Arizona law, indictments are generally sealed until a defendant is served with the document. Vallow Daybell cannot be extradited and served in Arizona until she is sentenced in the Idaho case, which is expected to happen later this year.

Daybell, her fifth husband, is awaiting trial on the same charges Vallow Daybell was convicted of.

One member of the jury that convicted her, Saul Hernandez, said in an interview broadcast on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that deliberations took two days because he wasn’t initially convinced that they had the evidence to convict Lori Vallow Daybell.

But after reviewing the evidence on the second day, he said, he agreed that she was guilty.

Hernandez said he was “disgusted” by the photos prosecutors presented of Lori and Chad Daybell dancing at their wedding on a beach in Hawaii.

“I just couldn’t believe how someone can be that happy when your kids are in the ground and the person that was key in all of this is sitting across from you smiling at you and dancing with you on the beach,” he said.

As more evidence and testimony was shared, Hernandez said it became harder for him to look at Lori Daybell.

“You know, growing up you talk about good and bad, God and evil,” Hernandez said. “And I think for the first time in my life, I put a face to evil.”