Lori Vallow Daybell pleads not guilty. Her jury trial has been set for April

Lori Vallow Daybell has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges as her case advances to a jury trial, set to begin in April.

Daybell appeared over a Zoom video call before District Judge Dane H. Watkins Jr. who summarized the two felony counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.

Seated next to her attorney, Mark Means, Daybell showed little emotion during the 10-minute hearing. Because of COVID-19 precautions, she wore a medical mask over her face.

Means entered the not guilty plea on behalf of Daybell.

The jury trial is set to begin April 2 with a pretrial conference scheduled for March 22.

Daybell is married to Chad Daybell, the man who owned the property where investigators found the remains of her two children: 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan.

Since her arrest on Feb. 20 in Kauai, Hawaii, Lori Daybell has been held in the Madison County Jail in eastern Idaho.

Chad Daybell is also facing felony charges. Last month he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of conspiracy to commit destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, and two felony counts of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence.

Once Lori Daybell is arraigned, Means will have 60 days to file a motion if he wants to change venues for the trial. Chad Daybell’s attorney, John Prior, has asked the trial be moved. He’s also asked that the case be dismissed altogether. Chad Daybell’s jury trial is set to run from Jan. 11-Jan. 29 in Fremont County. A pretrial conference is set for Dec. 10.

Earlier this month, Special Prosecutor Rob Wood asked that Chad and Lori Daybell’s jury trials be combined for efficiency. He said in a motion that he expects to use the same evidence and witnesses in the trials.

Judge Watkins and District Judge Steven Boyce, who oversees Chad’s case, has not made any ruling on combining the cases.