Arizona

Arizona trial dates are set for ‘Doomsday Mom’ Lori Vallow Daybell

Published

9 months ago

March 18, 2025

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Arizona trial dates are set for ‘Doomsday Mom’ Lori Vallow Daybell

Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona charges — murder conspiracy and attempted murder — stem from separate incidents.
The murder conspiracy case, related to the July 2019 death of Daybell’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, was set to begin March 31.

A judge on Tuesday decided Lori Vallow Daybell’s Arizona charges — murder conspiracy and attempted murder, stemming from separate incidents — would be prosecuted in separate trials.

The murder conspiracy case, related to the July 2019 death of Daybell’s fourth husband, Charles Vallow, would begin March 31, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Justin Beresky said.

May 30 would be the start date for the attempted murder trial, related to a shooting that narrowly missed Daybell’s niece’s ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, in Gilbert in October 2019, Beresky said.

Beresky also ruled during Tuesday’s hearing that the names of Daybell’s two youngest children would be included in juror questions to preclude seating jurors with prior knowledge of Daybell’s convictions in Idaho for their murders.

Joshua “JJ” Vallow was 7 and Tylee Ryan was 16 when they were killed. Daybell was sentenced to life in prison for their murders. She was also convicted in Idaho of conspiracy to murder Tammy Daybell, the ex-wife of Chad Daybell, who Lori Vallow married weeks later.

Daybell and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, believed in an imminent “doomsday” and that people around them were zombies, according to court records and testimony. Daybell has come to be known as the “Doomsday Mom,” the title of a 2021 Lifetime TV movie about her.

Judge orders videos Daybell wants to be turned over

Beresky ordered Daybell’s former defense team to turn over any material Daybell claimed they had withheld, including a video of Gilbert police interviewing her.

In court, Daybell argued she had not received the video, but prosecutors said they had provided her with everything of which they were aware.

Daybell said she knew the video existed because her previous defense team had shown it to her online.

“If they have that link, why don’t they just send it to the state?” Beresky said. “And that may help the state determine if that’s something they’ve already disclosed.”

Daybell claimed her former defense team refused to help her.

“I’ll tell you why they won’t — because that is my former team, and they will not do anything to help my investigator, my paralegal,” Daybell said. “They won’t give us any information that they found. They won’t talk to us at all because apparently there was a conflict.”

Daybell insists on speedy trial despite potential defense limitations

Daybell requested that an expert she retained be allowed to inspect Charles Vallow’s phone. Beresky warned that if her expert needed time to examine the device, admitting the findings could delay the trial.

The judge told her she had a choice: push the trial date to allow for more preparation or proceed as scheduled on March 31.

Daybell repeatedly asserted that she wanted to maintain the current trial date and invoke her right to a speedy trial, even if it meant limiting her defense’s ability to review evidence.

“I understand that, and I also understand that I’ve only been given 10 hours” for the expert from the Office of the Public Defender, Daybell said. “So if he could spend 10 hours this week getting it ready, then he can give us a report with the best that he can do.”

Beresky noted the defense already possessed digital forensic extractions from police evidence, including data from Charles Vallow’s phone, and suggested the expert work from those files.

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Arizona

5 big Powerball lotto prizes won across Arizona days before Christmas

Published

1 hour ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

5 big Powerball lotto prizes won across Arizona days before Christmas

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Five more lucky lotto players are heading into the holidays with a little extra cash in their pockets.

According to state lottery officials, the big winning tickets were sold around Arizona, each worth $50,000.

The tickets were sold at:

Goldfield Chevron
- 3265 S. Goldfield Rd, Apache Junction, AZ
Circle K
- 2088 W. Orange Grove Rd, Tucson, AZ
QuikTrip
- 918 E. Baseline Rd, Tempe, AZ
Desert Springs Travel Center
- 4031 Fleet St., Littlefield, AZ
Terrible’s
- 19985 N. Hwy 93, White Hills, AZ

The winning numbers from Monday’s drawing were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 and Powerball 7. Nine $1 million tickets were sold nationwide.

The jackpot remains unclaimed and is estimated at $1.7 billion — the fourth largest ever — with the next drawing set for Christmas Eve.

Powerball tickets cost $2 per play, with odds of winning the jackpot sitting at 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.

More information on games and prizes can be found on the Arizona Lottery website.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

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Arizona

No. 1 Arizona wraps up Bethune Cookman 107-71

Published

13 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

No. 1 Arizona wraps up Bethune Cookman 107-71

Arizona wrapped up their pre-Christmas schedule with a nice bow in the form of a 36 point victory over Bethune Cookman. Seven players scored double figures as Brayden Burries lead the game with 20 points. Partway through the first half Mabil Mawut was ejected from the game while on the bench, a rare occurrence under the Tommy Lloyd led team. Arizona will take Christmas off with practice resuming on the 26th and their next game at home on the 29th.

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Arizona

Will Arizona see a white Christmas? What the holiday forecast says

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Will Arizona see a white Christmas? What the holiday forecast says

After a week of persistent warm weather, a storm system is expected to bring rain, not snow, to Arizona for Christmas.
Flagstaff and other high-country areas are also too warm for Christmas snow, with precipitation expected to be mostly rain.
The same weather pattern is bringing heavy rain and potential flooding to Southern California and parts of the Northwest.

Arizonans dreaming of a white Christmas will likely have to settle for rain this year as warm temperatures persist.

A storm system off the West Coast is expected to funnel moisture into the state later this week, giving much of Arizona chances for rain around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The unsettled pattern could bring measurable rainfall, but temperatures are expected to stay too warm for snow, even in the high country. Arizona won’t get the soaking Southern California is expecting from incoming atmospheric rivers slamming the coast, but that same system will push moisture into the Southwest.

“Unfortunately, no white Christmas. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” said Ted Whittock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

In Phoenix, rain chances as temperatures cool from record highs

In Phoenix and the lower deserts, Christmas week will start off unusually warm before gradually cooling as rain chances increase.

Phoenix could break a daily temperature record for the second day in a row on Monday, Dec. 22. The current record is 79 degrees, with a forecast high of 82. A high of 81 degrees on Sunday, Dec. 21, broke the daily record for the third time this month.

But the weather should shift as a low-pressure system moves in from the Pacific.

“We’ll see a strong low-pressure system move in just off the West Coast and bring plenty of moisture into the region starting tomorrow,” Whittock said. “As a result, we’re going to see periodic rain chances this week.”

Forecasters say there will be two main windows for rain: late Tuesday into early Wednesday and again from Christmas Eve into Christmas Day.

Temperatures will start to trend downward midweek, with highs potentially dropping into the 60s and low 70s by the weekend.

Rainfall totals in the Valley could add up to around a half-inch or more in spots.

In Flagstaff, mostly rain early with uncertain snow chances later

Up north, Flagstaff will also see an unsettled and warmer-than-normal Christmas week. But snow lovers may be disappointed.

“It’s very warm for this time of year compared to what it usually is in December, so we’re expecting this week’s events to mainly be rain instead of snow,” said Jacob Lewandowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Flagstaff.

The first chance of rain in the forecast is Tuesday, Dec. 23 in the evening. Snow levels are expected to stay high through midweek, generally between 9,000 and 10,000 feet. That puts Flagstaff below the snow line during the initial rounds of precipitation.

Chances for snow could increase later in the week as cooler air moves in, but confidence drops significantly after Wednesday.

“The chances for snow start increasing by Thursday and Friday, but it’s still a lot of uncertainty with it,” said Lewandowski. “It’s just how warm it is through the week and whether it’s going to be all rain or a little bit of snow mixed in. Most likely not a white Christmas, though. It’s too warm.”

Atmospheric rivers hit the West Coast as much of the U.S. stays warm

The storm system affecting Arizona is part of a broader pattern impacting much of the western United States. Atmospheric rivers, or long plumes of moisture from the Pacific, are expected to bring heavy rain to parts of coastal California this week.

“The atmospheric rivers are going to impact Southern Calfironia, particularly on Wednesday,” Whittock said. “This is an especially impactful system for people that are traveling to and from Southern California, especially coastal areas.”

Forecasts from the National Weather Service in Los Angeles show an extended period of heavy rain expected from Tuesday through Saturday, with 4 to 8 inches of rain likely across coastal and valley areas. Prolonged rainfall could lead to flooding and debris flow concerns, especially in burn scar areas.

Unusual weather isn’t limited to just the West. Much of the United States will have a warmer than normal holiday, with some areas experiencing their warmest Christmases on record.

A northward shift in the jet stream over the middle of the country is allowing warmer air to spread east, causing above-normal temperatures. From the Rockies to parts of the Appalachians, temperatures could reach 15 to 30 degrees above average for Christmas Day.

So whether it’s rainy or warm, much of the country will miss out on a snow globe Christmas this year. In Arizona, that likely means a damp holiday instead of a snowy one.

Hayleigh Evans writes about extreme weather and related topics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email her with story tips at hayleigh.evans@arizonarepublic.com.

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