Lori Vallow's 7-year-old Son JJ's Cause of Death Revealed in Gruesome Detail at Murder Trial
Apr. 26 2023, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
The gruesome cause of death for "cult mom" Lori Vallow's son JJ was revealed at her murder trial, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Vallow was in court on Wednesday to hear the harrowing testimony. The 49-year-old mother of three was accused of killing JJ, 7, and his older sister Tylee, 16 — and has been named in connection to the murder of her fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell's ex-wife, Tammy.
According to court testimony, the 7-year-old died from asphyxiation. Forensic pathologist Dr. Garth Warren testified that JJ was asphyxiated with a plastic bag and duct tape over his mouth.
Additional evidence found during JJ's autopsy suggested that the child fought for air during his final moments.
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The child was discovered with scratch marks on his neck and bruises on his wrists and ankles, where he was bound by duct tape.
"Was J.J. trying to get the bag off his head? It could be scratch marks of him trying to get it off his head," Warren stated in court.
The autopsy on JJ's remains was conducted two days after they were discovered, along with Tylee's, on their stepfather's property in June 2020.
Tylee's autopsy sadly led to more questions than answers.
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"The vast majority of the time when I perform an autopsy, I get an entire body and there’s a process we go through," Warren said of Tylee. "Tylee’s case was different. Her remains were received in three separate sealed bags."
Upon discovering her body, investigators questioned if the remains were human. When her skull was found under a melted plastic bucket, they determined the discovery to be Tylee.
Prosecutors stated that the 16-year-old was dismembered and burned — preventing forensic investigators from definitively concluding a cause of death.
Warren said he inspected the teenage girl's remains for bullet marks or stab wounds but could not find any. Unable to determine a direct cause of death, Tylee's autopsy concluded it was "homicide by unspecified means."
During the trial, members of Vallow's family testified that she was allegedly not interested in parenting either child — and was consumed with a "doomsday" cult. Vallow was accused of killing her children because she believed they were zombies.