Southwest
'Doomsday mom' Lori Vallow granted mental health exam ahead of second murder trial
An Arizona judge on Tuesday granted convicted killer mom Lori Vallow’s request for a mental competency evaluation ahead of her second criminal trial.
Vallow, who, along with her husband Chad Daybell, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Idaho last year for killing her two youngest children and Daybell’s former wife, is now set to stand trial in Arizona for allegedly conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and her niece’s ex-husband.
Vallow pleaded not guilty to the alleged crimes last December.
Two “qualified mental health experts” will perform the evaluation, and Vallow’s trial has been vacated pending results of the examination, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
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Lori Vallow will undergo a mental competency examination in Arizona ahead of her second criminal trial. (Maricopa County)
Vallow and Daybell killed two of Vallow’s children, 7-year-old J.J. Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell, in 2019.
While J.J. and Tylee were missing, and directly after Tammy’s death in October 2019, Vallow and Daybell married in Hawaii in November of that same year.
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Lori and Chad Daybell are accused of killing 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J. Vallow in 2019. (Rexberg Police Department)
J.J. and Tylee were found in shallow graves on Daybell’s rural Rexburg property in June 2020, months after they disappeared from their home in September 2019.
The 16-year-old’s remains were burned while the 7-year-old was bound in duct tape.
LORI VALLOW TRIAL: ‘CULT MOM’ SENTENCED IN MURDERS OF 2 OF HER CHILDREN, HUSBAND’S FIRST WIFE
In this aerial photo, investigators search for human remains at Chad Daybell’s residence in Salem, Idaho, on June 9, 2020. (John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register )
Ahead of her murder trial in Idaho last year, Vallow spent about nine months in an Idaho mental hospital. Following those nine months, Fremont District Judge Steven Boyce ruled that she was “returned to competency and is fit to proceed” in her first trial, which was similarly halted when she was committed to the mental health facility.
Idaho prosecutors alleged during Vallow’s and Daybell’s trials that the pair had extreme religious beliefs, including the idea that some people had “dark” souls while others had “light” souls. They believed the “dark” spirits could be so dark, in fact, that they could be zombies.
‘CULT MOM’ LORI VALLOW APPEALS CONVICTION AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING HER 2 CHILDREN
Charles Vallow died in July 2019. Two months later, in September 2019, Tylee and J.J. disappeared. Tammy Daybell died of asphyxiation in November 2019. Cox died later that year of an apparent blood clot in December 2019. (KASZ/Facebook/Post Register/John Roark/AP POOL)
“You removed your children from their home in Arizona, alienated them from friends and family… and you brought them here to murder them. You had so many other options… You chose the most evil and destructive path possible,” Boyce said at the conclusion of her trial in July 2023. “I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused.”
He added that Vallow does “have mental health issues.”
LORI VALLOW VERDICT: IDAHO JUROR SAYS ‘CULT MOM’ HAD ‘NO HINT’ SHE WAS DESTROYING ‘SO MUCH AROUND HER’
Lori Vallow’s booking photo taken on Aug. 1, 2023, at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center in Pocatello, Idaho. (Idaho Dept. of Corrections/LOCAL NEWS X/TMX)
A February 2023 psychiatric diagnosis revealed that Vallow suffers from a “delusional disorder” mixed with “hyper-religiosity” and a “continuous and unspecified personality disorder” with narcissistic features, according to Boyce.
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“Others looked for your children when you knew where they were and knew they were dead,” Boyce told Vallow in court last year. “They were found dead, burned, mutilated and dismembered and buried like animals. After you knew they were dead, you collected public-funded assistance payments meant for them, and that was blood money you kept for yourself.”
Lori Vallow, convicted in Idaho, faces more charges in Arizona. (Tony Blakeslee/East Idaho News)
During her sentencing, Vallow spoke publicly for the first time since her arrest in 2020, and appeared to be in denial, saying at the time that she knew her children were “happy and busy in the spirit world.”
WATCH LORI VALLOW ADDRESS THE COURT:
“I have had many communications with Jesus Christ, savior of this world, and our heavenly parents. I have had many angelic visitors come and communicated with me and even manifested themselves to me because of these communications,” Vallow told an Idaho courtroom during her sentencing hearing. “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.”
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In her statement to the court, Vallow added she “died in the hospital” while she was in labor with her daughter, Tylee. Doctors revived her, at which point she began seeing spirits.
Lori Vallow Daybell smiled in and outside of an Idaho courthouse on Aug, 16. (Tony Blakeslee/East Idaho News)
“One of the times that Tylee came to me as a spirit after she died… she said to me, ‘Stop worrying, Mom. We are fine.’ She knows how I worry and how I miss her,” Vallow said at the time.
The so-called “cult mom” was extradited to Arizona in November 2023, about four months after she was sentenced to life without parole in Idaho.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Pasadena motorist knocked unconscious in unprovoked assault after other driver flashes high beams at him
A motorist was rendered unconscious after what authorities are calling an unprovoked attack that occurred after another driver flashed their high beams at him, authorities say.
According to the Pasadena Police Department, the victim, a 63-year-old man, was driving northbound on Raymond Avenue near Washington Boulevard when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction flashed him around 1 a.m. Saturday.
“The victim reported that he was driving northbound on Raymond Avenue from Washington Boulevard when he observed a vehicle traveling southbound flashing its high beams at him,” a Pasadena Police Department spokesperson confirmed to KTLA. “The victim stated he stopped his vehicle and exited. He was then assaulted by an unknown suspect. The assault was unprovoked.”
The attack left the man unconscious and with a three-inch deep laceration to his head, police added. Upon regaining consciousness, the man transported himself to Huntington Hospital, and it was around 1:20 a.m. when police responded there to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and began their investigation.
Upon arriving at the hospital, the victim told police that, due to his injuries, he was not able to provide a description of a suspect, vehicle or the weapon used, nor was he able to tell police the exact location where the assault occurred, although it was confirmed to be somewhere near Raymond Avenue and Washington Boulevard. La Pintoresca Park is located near that intersection.
No further details were immediately available.
Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to contact the Pasadena Police Department right away.
Sofia Pop Perez contributed to this report.
Los Angeles, Ca
Woman killed by driver while crossing PCH in Long Beach
A woman was struck and killed by a driver while crossing the street on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.
On June 3, the female pedestrian was using the crosswalk at Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Avenue around 4:50 a.m.
She had walked against a red light and was hit by a 19-year-old driver in a Chevy sedan, Long Beach police said.
Despite lifesaving efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
“At this time, impaired driving, distracted driving and excessive speed are not believed to be a factor in this collision,” police said.
The woman’s name is being withheld pending identification by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information on the incident is asked to call Detective Joseph Johnson at 562-570-7355.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
Los Angeles, Ca
Man wanted for deadly Los Angeles road rage shooting extradited from Mexico
A man wanted for a deadly road rage shooting in Los Angeles was arrested and extradited from Mexico after fleeing the U.S. in 2024.
The suspect was identified as Christian Rojas, 21, of Bellflower, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Authorities had been searching for him since the deadly incident on October 10, 2024.
Rojas and a second suspect, Joshua Rojas Sr., 47, of Downey, were driving on the northbound 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights around 4 p.m. when they became involved in an altercation with another driver that escalated into a shooting.
Video of the tense confrontation showed the suspects, who were driving a Dodge Durango SUV, opening fire on two men in a Cadillac sedan.
The shooting forced the victim to pull over abruptly. That’s when a suspect ran up to the Cadillac, opened the passenger-side door and fired several shots at close range.
In a panic, the Cadillac driver tried to escape by making a sudden U-turn and driving against oncoming traffic. He eventually crashed head-on into several vehicles.
The suspects ditched their SUV and fled toward a freeway exit on foot. The Cadillac driver was left with serious injuries and his passenger was killed. Their identities were not released.
The incident caused a miles-long backup that left thousands of motorists stranded on the freeway for hours and authorities worked to clear the scene.
Following an extensive investigation, detectives identified the two men as the suspects involved.
Joshua Rojas Sr. was arrested in San Bernardino on October 22, 2024, on a murder charge. He remains in custody awaiting trial.
Meanwhile, Christian Rojas had fled the U.S. and was hiding in Mexico, detectives said. A $4.3 million bail warrant was issued for his arrest.
“Through a coordinated international effort, investigators determined that Rojas was living in Palomo de Arriba, Mexico,” CHP officials said. “The U.S. Marshals Service worked with Mexican state police to locate and arrest him on the outstanding warrant.”
On June 2, 2026, Christian was arrested and extradited to the U.S. to face a murder charge.
“This arrest demonstrates that time and distance will not shield violent offenders from justice,” said CHP Southern Division Chief Chris Margaris. “For nearly two years, our detectives remained relentless in their pursuit of those responsible for this senseless act of violence. Through exceptional collaboration with the United States Marshals Service and our law enforcement partners in Mexico, we located and apprehended this suspect and brought him back to face the charges. We remain committed to protecting the public, supporting victims and their families, and holding violent criminals accountable wherever they may try to hide.”
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