Medical examiner testifies about how Lori Vallow Daybell’s 16-year-old died

Joshua Jaxon “JJ” Vallow – a high-energy 7-year-old boy with a goofy smile – died from asphyxiation because of a plastic bag over his head and duct tape over his mouth, Chief Forensic Pathologist Garth Warren said during his testimony Wednesday.

Authorities said they believe Lori Vallow Daybell either killed or encouraged or commanded someone else to kill her children, JJ and his 16-year-old sister, Tylee Ryan, according to the indictment.

Tylee’s death was ruled a “homicide by unspecified means,” Warren said. The lack of autopsy findings and medical records, Warren said, meant he couldn’t pinpoint exactly how Tylee died, but he said he believes she was killed.

“This is a homicide,” Warren said. “I just can’t tell you why.”

The children were found dead in shallow graves on the Salem, Idaho, property owned by Chad Daybell, Vallow Daybell’s husband. The Daybells have been charged with the first-degree murders of the two children, along with three counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

JJ had a scratch on the left side of his neck, which Warren said was a “red flag.” He noted that while he couldn’t say for certain what caused the scratch, he said he wondered whether JJ was trying to get the bag off his head.

Warren also noted that JJ’s body was in a state of decomposition, and that he had bruising to his forearms – which happened before he was killed – from being bound with duct tape. Rexburg Police Det. Ray Hermosillo, who was on the scene when the children’s bodies were found, said JJ’s body was found wrapped in a black trash bag and his hands and feet were bound with duct tape, according to his April 11 testimony.

Layers of duct tape were also found across JJ’s face, according to autopsy photos presented in court. Both Warren and Hermosillo said a strip of duct tape covered JJ’s mouth from jawline to jawline.

Once the duct tape was removed, a white garbage bag – which had a red drawstring and is commonly used in a kitchen trashcan – was left around JJ’s head.

Hermosillo said in court that he was present during the autopsy. When the tape was removed, he said authorities were able to identify the little boy in red pajamas.

“It was easy to identify that little boy as the one we had been looking for,” Hermosillo said.

‘Tylee’s case was different’: Medical examiner testifies

Warren, later in the day, began to testify about performing Tylee’s autopsy.

“Tylee’s case was different,” Warren said. He said that he received seven bags with Tylee’s remains, two of which were black body bags.

Warren said that there was no evidence Tylee was burned alive. The 16-year-old’s remains were found burned, melted, in pieces and located in two different places – the fire pit and buried underground inside a melted green bucket.

Tylee’s toxicology report would have shown high levels of carbon monoxide if she was burned alive, Warren said, but it didn’t.

He added that while he would have liked to have tested Tylee’s blood to get the toxicology results, he wasn’t able to – because law enforcement didn’t find any blood. He instead used skeletal muscle, which he said “isn’t the best,” but they were able to get an idea of the results.

Warren said he also reviewed Tylee’s medical records as a part of his examination and said she dealt with ovarian cysts, pancreatitis and panic attacks. When asked by the prosecution whether anything in Tylee’s medical history would explain her death, Warren said no.

Warren said Tylee’s skeletal remains were sent to a forensic anthropologist team with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Several pieces of small “unidentifiable charred” bone and fragments of tissue were inside several of the bags. Warren said that since the bones, which came from the fire pit, were so small and burnt, he couldn’t tell where they came from.