Jurors now considering whether Lori Daybell conspired with brother to murder her husband

PHOENIX — Lori Vallow Daybell told jurors that prosecutors attacked her character during this trial but did not show evidence of an agreement to commit murder. Rather, she insisted her husband’s death was a “family tragedy” that tore her family apart.

“I did not commit this crime,” she said in her closing argument on Monday.

Twelve jurors, 10 men and two women, are now considering whether Daybell conspired to murder Charles Vallow in July 2019. The jurors, who were handed the case Monday afternoon, decided just minutes later to go home and come back on Tuesday to deliberate.

Daybell argues self-defense

In her closing argument, Daybell, who is representing herself, said the shooting “was not planned or expected; it was shocking.” She told jurors that it is entirely the prosecution’s responsibility to prove that what happened was not self-defense and told them that if they are not “firmly convinced” she is guilty, they should give her the benefit of the doubt.

Daybell encouraged jurors to listen to the interview she had with Chandler police after her husband’s death and determine her demeanor for themselves rather than rely on what police said about her. She said her brother Alex Cox and her daughter, Tylee Ryan, were taken to the police station for interviews, as well, but those recordings were not played in the courtroom. After an objection from prosecutors, the judge told jurors not to consider what evidence was not admitted.

“We learned that law enforcement treated all of us that day kindly and courteously, on July 11, 2019, that law enforcement treated us that day like this was self-defense,” she told the jury.

“Under Arizona law, I had the right to self-defense; Tylee had the right to self-defense; Alex had the right to self-defense,” Daybell said.

She said evidence showed problems in her marriage with Vallow, but that doesn’t mean what happened was not self-defense. She said Tylee left her room with a baseball bat, and Vallow had a choice of whether to take and use the bat or not.

“A two-minute period changed our lives forever. … How can you decide for another person if they feel threatened? Why does the state want to blame someone for this tragic event?” she asked.

Over the last two weeks, Daybell has asked questions to witnesses called to the stand by prosecutor Treena Kay, but she did not call any of her own witnesses or testify in her own defense. She did ask that her full interview with Chandler police officers be given to jurors, but the judge denied that request.

Daybell was found guilty in 2023 of the murders of her two children — 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow — along with conspiracy to murder them and Chad Daybell’s wife, Tammy Daybell, before she married him in November 2019. She is currently serving five sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Chad Daybell was found guilty of the murders of the two children and his first wife in 2024 and was sentenced to death.

‘Premeditated execution’

In her closing argument, Kay told jurors that Vallow’s killing was a “premeditated execution,” citing Lori Daybell’s texts. Kay said the texts show how Lori Daybell was involved and what her motivations were.

“Her words tell us that she was involved in this killing. Her actions and her words while texting Chad Daybell tell us the motives behind this murder — Chad and money,” Kay said.

The prosecutor quoted a text in which Lori Daybell told Chad Daybell that not getting Vallow’s life insurance money was “a spear through my heart,” and another that said it was likely “Ned” — a dark spirit who witnesses testified Lori Daybell had said was in control of her husband’s body — changed the policy “before we got rid of him.” Both of these texts were sent seven days after Vallow’s death.

Kay also brought up the word “we” in the phrase “we got rid of him,” multiple times, saying it was Lori Daybell’s own admission of guilt.

“The execution of Charles Vallow is not a family tragedy. There is nothing that you can say about shooting a man as he lay on the ground that you can construe in any way to try to make that a family tragedy,” Kay said in response to Lori Daybell’s closing argument.

Kay said evidence shows Vallow was shot a second time while on the ground, which shows premeditated murder. She said abrasions on his body show he fell forward onto his knees and moved onto his back before he was shot a second time.

“This murder, ladies and gentlemen, was not justified,” she told the jurors.

Kay said Cox and Lori Daybell took time to set up the scene, forgetting that Vallow was left-handed when placing the bat. She also recalled how Cox called Lori Daybell twice, saying it was likely so the two could get their story straight before calling 911.

She said it was Daybell who made sure JJ was out of the house, in the car, and it was Daybell who took Vallow’s phone so he would come back inside and Alex Cox would have a reason to bring out a gun. She said Daybell was “actively participating” in the crime.

“This is all her doing. This is her, as an accomplice, assisting and promoting this murder. Lori is setting up Charles so Alex can shoot him,” she said.

The prosecutor claimed Daybell’s account of the shooting was not reliable, saying video shows black straps on her feet when buying shoes at Walgreens that morning after claiming she left too quickly to grab shoes. She said Daybell claimed everything happened quickly, but there were a full 12 minutes between the time Vallow arrived to pick up JJ and the time when Daybell left the house. When Daybell returned to the scene, Kay said she did not show concern over her husband’s death or her brother’s head injury.

“It becomes very relevant that even in the smallest of things, this defendant exaggerates, minimizes and is completely untruthful to various people,” Kay said. “There is no reasonable doubt as to this defendant’s guilt.”

A mission

Kay also cited testimony from one of Daybell’s acquaintances who was disturbed about comments made by Cox about wanting to kill his brother-in-law a month before Vallow’s death. The witness also said Daybell did not seem to care about those comments and even commented herself that she had been drugging her husband.

Kay said a text from Daybell asking those she was close with to stay near her and another to Alex Cox talking about how they would “be like Nephi” are evidence that they had a plan.

“Lori Daybell wanted a million dollars, and she wanted Chad Daybell. She and Alex used that twisted religious belief they had so that they could kill the evil, possessed Charles and ‘be like Nephi,'” Kay said.

Kay said Daybell’s religious beliefs, which witnesses testified to, such as believing she no longer needed to repent, align with a belief that Daybell would feel that she was justified in determining who dies — just like Nephi in the Book of Mormon, who is known for a justified killing.

The prosecutor said Cox arrived at Daybell’s house with a garbage bag full of clothes and an orange bag with a gun: “That’s all he needs to be part of the mission.”

Daybell responded to the use of the text in which she said she and Alex would “be like Nephi,” which was sent the night before Vallow was killed, by saying it was a “positive text message.” Daybell said Kay’s use of it as evidence to show Vallow’s killing was a murder, and not self-defense, is “utterly ridiculous.”

“This is an attempt by the state to try to retrofit a crime that doesn’t exist,” she said.