BOISE, Idaho — During her sentencing hearing Monday in Boise, Lori Vallow Daybell was allowed to speak on her own behalf before the judge sentenced her to life in prison without parole for the murder of her children, J.J. Vallow and Tylee Ryan.
RELATED | Lori Vallow Daybell sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole
Below is the transcription of Vallow Daybell's statement:
"I would like to start by quoting John from the New Testament in the Bible.
In John chapter 8 verse 7, Jesus says, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast first cast a stone at her.” Then, in verse 15, Jesus says, “You judge after the flesh. I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true.”
Jesus knows me and Jesus understands me. I mourn with all of you who mourn my children and Tammy. Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here.
Jesus Christ knows that no one was murdered. In this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicide, happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen.
I have a different perspective in life because in 2002, when I was pregnant with Kylie, I died in the hospital while in labor with her. They tried to stop my labor, they put me on the table
and they put something in my IV, and I felt my spirit falling to the floor. I was standing near my pregnant body watching the doctors try to revive me which took them a few minutes.
In that time my sister, Stacy, was standing to my left. I turned to hug her and was surprised that her spirit was as tangible as a physical body because I knew I was in spirit, and she was in spirit.
She said she needed to show me some things and we went to heaven.
I later returned to my body. Because of this experience I have access to heaven and the spirit world. Since then, I have had many communications from people now living in heaven,
including my children, Tylie, Ashland and Joshua Jackson; my sisters, Stacy and Lolly, my aunts and my uncles and my grandparents.
I've had many communications with Jesus Christ, the savior of this world and our heavenly parents. I have had many angelic visitors, have come and communicated with me and even manifested themselves to me because of these communications,
I know for a fact that my children are happy and busy in the spirit world.
Because of my communications with my friend, Tammy Daybell, I know that she is also very happy and extremely busy.
I have always mourned the loss of my loved ones and I have lost many in this mortal world. However, I know that more than most people, I know where they are now and what they're doing. I know how wonderful heaven is and I'm homesick for it every single day.
I know we all lived in heaven before we were born on Earth, and we were all adult spirits in the heavenly realm.
We chose to come to earth as mortals. Heaven is more wonderful than you can possibly imagine.
I do not fear death, but I look forward to it. I do not, I did not want to return to my body when I was out of it.
Even though my son Colby, who I adored more than anything, was only six years old at the time, and I was about to give birth to this new baby girl that I wanted so badly. I was a young mother, and you would think I wouldn't want to leave my children. But as I stood in Heaven. I did not want to go back. I thought they would be fine without me because I was peaceful and I was happy and I was home.
But then I was told by Jesus that I needed to go back and complete things that I had covenanted or promised to do before I was born. This caused me a lot of distress because I knew Heaven was my real home and I only wanted to be there.
I was free from pain, emotional, and physical. But then I was shown how I would help my children and others in the future. So ultimately, I did agree to go back to my body.
Tylee has visited me. She is happy and very busy. Tylee is free now from all the pains of her life.
Tylee suffered horrible physical pain her whole life. I sat with Tylee in the hospital, year after year after year while she screamed in pain when the morphine wasn't even enough to take away the pain of her pancreatitis.
I sat there while she cried, and I held back her hair while she threw up and I am the only person on this earth who knows how much Tylee suffered in her life.
She had pain every single day. She never felt good. Her body did not work right and I don't know if that was from complications from me dying while she was being born or something else, but she had a very difficult life.
She was sexually abused by her own biological father since she was three years old, and she was forced by family court to go visit him for 10 years against her will. I fought for her. In court I protected her. I tried to protect her with my whole life I tried to protect her. I worried about her every single day.
Tylee had to get her GED because she couldn't go to school every day because she never felt good. She felt sick. Nobody knows this because Tylee, like myself, tries to put on a good front, tries to be a happy person, tries to have hope in life, tries to know that she's here for a purpose, and that she has an eternal purpose to be on this Earth.
But I never stopped worrying about her.
One of the times that Tylee came to me as a spirit after she died. She said she commanded me and she said to me, “Stop worrying, mom. We are fine.” She knows how I worry and how I miss her.
The first time JJ visited me after he passed away, he put his arm around me and he said to me, “You didn't do anything wrong, mom. I love you, and I know you loved me every minute of my life.”
Joshua Jackson was an adult spirit and he was very, very tall when he put his arm around me.
He is busy. He is engaged. He has jobs that he does there, and he is happy where he is. His life was short, but JJ's life was meaningful. JJ was a wonderful person and touched the lives of everyone and I adored him every minute of his life.
My eternal friend, Tammy Daybell, has visited me on several occasions. She came to bring me peace and comfort and I know that she is extremely busy helping her family, especially her children and grandchildren. And I have a great love for Tammy.
My beautiful children, Tylee Ashley and Joshua Jackson, rest safely this day in the arms of Jesus.
My wonderful friend, Tammy Daybell, rest safely this day in the arms of Jesus.
And I look forward to the day when we are all reunited and I too will rest with them in the arms of my Jesus."
