A northern Virginia mom who sedated her two daughters with melatonin-laced gummy bears earlier than fatally capturing them was sentenced Friday to 78 years in jail.
Veronica Youngblood, 38, was arrested in August 2018 after capturing daughters Sharon Castro, 15, and Brooklynn Youngblood, 5, of their condo in McLean. Castro survived lengthy sufficient to name 911 and inform a dispatcher she had been shot by her mom. Jurors heard a recording of that decision throughout a two-week trial that was so traumatic that jurors inquired about whether or not they may obtain trauma remedy.
Youngblood advised detectives that she deliberate to kill them and herself following a protracted custody dispute. Ron Youngblood, her ex-husband, advised The Associated Press after the listening to that he had wished to maneuver to Missouri with each daughters however had reluctantly agreed to take solely Brooklyn after his ex-wife objected.
Authorities stated she fed her daughters the sleeping capsule gummies earlier than capturing them of their beds.
Youngblood offered an madness protection at trial but it surely was rejected. The jury advisable 78 years in jail after listening to testimony throughout sentencing that Youngblood grew up in poverty in Argentina, was bodily and sexually abused as a baby, and resorted to intercourse work as a youngster to assist her older daughter.
Before she was sentenced Friday, Youngblood spoke for greater than half-hour about her daughters and the difficulties she had elevating them.
“I’ve been a good mother, but something happened, I don’t know how to explain it,” she advised the decide via a Spanish interpreter. “Something exploded in my mind.”
Defense legal professionals had requested that the 2 homicide sentences run concurrently as an alternative of consecutively, which might have diminished the sentence from 78 years to 42 years.
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows stated he noticed no cause to scale back the jury’s suggestion. He had no potential underneath state legislation to extend it.
“Mothers and fathers have many responsibilities, but none is more grave than keeping their children safe,” he stated. “Tragically, their mother became the instrument of their death.”
Prosecutor Kelsey Gill emphasised that the killings had been premeditated and that Youngblood purchased the gun she used every week earlier than.
“There really aren’t words that can describe the depravity with which Ms. Youngblood planned and carried out the execution of her children,” she advised the decide.
Public defender Dawn Butorac stated she expects Youngblood to attraction.
Ron Youngblood, who was Brooklynn’s father and performed a major position in rearing Sharon, stated he selected a seat within the courtroom the place he couldn’t see his ex-wife as a result of it was so painful to take heed to the phrases of the lady who killed his daughters. He stated that he knew his ex-wife bore animosity towards him, however “never once did I imagine that she could do anything like that to our girls.”
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, whose workplace prosecuted the case, stated in an announcement after Friday’s listening to: “There is no outcome that can give these children back the lives that were taken from them, but today’s sentence is a measure of justice for their family.”
Published On:
Sep 23, 2023
