Veronica Youngblood, 37, was sentenced to up to 78 years in prison by a jury for killer her two daughters in 2019, according to officials, after she was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder and weapons charges.
On Aug. 5, 2018, prosecutors said that Youngblood shot her daughters Sharon Castro, 15, and Brooklyn Youngblood, 5, in their McLean apartment.
According to officials, Youngblood told detectives that she planned to kill them, then herself, following a custody dispute, which resulted in her youngest daughter moving to Missouri with her ex-husband that same weekend.
Youngblood purchased a gun on July 27, before the murders, and on the night of the shooting she fed her daughters sleeping pill gummies before killing them in their bed, Descano said.
Youngblood was born in Argentina and met her husband Ron a Navy pilot, while he was stationed there in 2007. They relocated to Virginia in 2015 and divorced the following year.
“Sharon and Brooklynn are two children that should be alive today,” Descano said. “I have an 11-year-old daughter who has her whole life ahead of her - and it guts me to imagine her life cut short.
“This case is a terrible tragedy and I hope today’s verdict brings a measure of healing for the family.”
Descano said that a jury determines the sentence a judge has discretion over. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for September, when there will be additional victim testimony before a final sentence is imposed.
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