BOISE, Idaho — Lori Vallow Daybell is awaiting sentencing. A jury in Ada County found her guilty on all counts Friday afternoon. The judge said Vallow will be sentenced within three months from now. She could face up to life in prison.
Newschannel 7's Shirah Matsuzawa talked to J.J.'s grandparents, Tylee's aunt and Lori Vallow's uncle about the outcome of the trial.
J.J.'s grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock spoke with the media moments after the verdict came down. "We are elated with this," Kay said.
"Thank you, thank y'all, thank you," Larry said. "I want to personally thank, and I want to personally hug every one of those jurors."
While the Woodcocks were in court when that verdict was read,
many relatives were also watching from across the country. Cushing was in court the first couple of weeks of the trial and sat just feet away from Lori.
Family members like Tylee's aunt, Annie Cushing. She said she was over the moon.
"I was surprised by how I felt when I saw her, like I was expecting more rage and just like, how dare you," Cushing said. "But she looked like an animal caught in a trap. It was just a realization, you know, in addition to these lives that she helped to destroy, and it just the ripple effect of people's lives that have been impacted by these crimes. Yeah, I walked away with the realization, she also took herself down."
Lori's uncle, Rex Connor had a similar experience when he attended the trial on two separate occasions.
"You're in the courtroom, you make eye contact with Lori, and you have that faint smile, you know, well, we knew the person that preceded you. You know, when you make eye contact, I don't feel like we know this person," Connor said. "I don't speak with Lori but my sister Janice her mother does every week. And, you know, I'm talking with Janice she just relays Lori is still in her delusion."
Cushing called her a psychopath.
"I thought through, like, if there's anything I would want to say to her. It would fall on deaf ears see, she's a psychopath," Cushing said. "She has no concern whatsoever about the pain and suffering she's caused other people."
It seems that the pain makes the guilty verdict they've been waiting for, still wrapped in sadness, because it doesn’t bring the kids back.
"It's the most bittersweet you can imagine. Just the sadness, but the relief from all this is, is I guess a liberating feeling. It just is freeing for us. I do believe since it's Mother's Day weekend, the Friday before and I do believe that the verdicts today are just everybody and everything aligned in the universe. And this is what you call poetic justice," Kay said.
"We are so grateful that for everyone that has come in contact with the story, and here's why," Connor said. "You can think of all of the news stories, all of the situations in the world that we see reported. And aren't most of them divisive? There are millions of people now that are that are aware of and that are following it and they care about it. And we're all on the same side. We all want justice for Tylee and JJ. and for Tammy and Charles."
"I forgot one of the most important things," Larry said. "JJ., I love you. Papa... wishes you were here. In other circumstances...Tammy, I never met you but... you are part of our life."
The trial for Vallow's husband Chad Daybell will be held at a later date. At a status conference earlier this month, both the prosecution and defense said June of 2024 would work for them. The judge is still working on the scheduling.
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