Virginia mom, 38, who gave 15 and 5 year-old daughters melatonin gummies then shot them dead is jailed for 78 years

A former prostitute who drugged her two daughters with melatonin gummy bears before fatally shooting them has been sentenced to 78 years in prison.

Veronica Youngblood, 38, was arrested in August 2018 after shooting her daughters Sharon Castro, 15, and Brooklynn Youngblood, 5, in their apartment in McLean, Virginia.

The former sex worker was convicted in March 2023 of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of firearm use.

Before she was sentenced on September 22, Youngblood spoke for more than 30 minutes about her daughters and the challenges she had raising them.

Through a Spanish interpreter, she told the judge: “I’ve been a good mother, but something happened, I don’t know how to explain it.” Something exploded in my head.’

At trial, Youngblood pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but was dismissed.

The jury did not believe “mental illness” played a role in Youngblood’s decision to give her children sleeping gummies before shooting them.

Defense attorneys had asked that the two murder sentences run concurrently instead of consecutively, which would have reduced the sentence from 78 years to 42 years.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows said he saw no reason to reduce the jury’s recommendation that one sentence run after another.

Judge Bellows said in sentencing: ‘Mothers and fathers have many responsibilities, but none is more serious than the safety of their children. Tragically, their mother became the instrument of their death.”

Veronica Youngblood, left, and her daughter, Sharon Castro, who was shot in the back and chest and died in hospital in 2018

Veronica Youngblood is shown with her daughters, Sharon Castro and Brooklynn Youngblood. She then killed in revenge

Prosecutor Kelsey Gill said the killings were intentional and that Youngblood purchased the gun she used a week earlier.

Gill told the court: ‘There are truly no words that can describe the depravity with which Mrs Youngblood planned and carried out the execution of her children.

Public Defender Dawn Butorac said she expects Youngblood to appeal.

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, whose office prosecuted the case, said in a statement after the hearing: “There is no outcome that can give these children back the lives that were taken from them, but today’s sentence is a benchmark for justice for their family.”

According to The Washington PostYoungblood murdered her children in revenge for her ex-husband’s plans to move away with their youngest, Brooklynn. She had married her husband in 2009.

Authorities said she gave both daughters the sleeping pill gummies before shooting them in their beds.

Youngblood murdered her children in revenge for her ex-husband’s plans to move away with their youngest, Brooklynn. She had married her husband in 2009

The eldest daughter survived long enough to call 911 and tell a dispatcher she had been shot by her mother.

Jurors heard a recording of that call during Youngblood’s two-week trial, and jurors ultimately wondered if they could receive trauma therapy because of how traumatic the call was.

As her teenage daughter lay dying, Veronica called her ex-husband, Ron Youngblood, to say she hated him and that she had shot the children.

She told investigators she planned to kill them and herself after a lengthy custody dispute.

At the time of her trial, Youngblood was recorded telling investigators that she was guilty and deserved the death penalty for killing her children. Prosecutors said she was manipulative and calculating.

Brooklynn had died on the spot from a shot to the head, while Sharon was shot once in the back and once in the chest and died in hospital.

Sharon called the police after being shot once in the back and once in the chest and reported that her mother had shot them. She died in hospital.

Growing up in poverty in Argentina, Youngblood was physically and sexually abused by relatives as a child, gave birth to Sharon when she was 16, and was forced to resort to sex work as a teenager to support her daughter.