A Virginia mom who killed her two daughters to spite her ex-husband has been sentenced to 78 years in prison.
Veronica Youngblood, 38, of McLean, Virginia, was convicted in March of murdering her daughters, 15-year-old Sharon and 5-year-old Brooklynn, nearly five years earlier. The next day, the jury recommended she serve 78 years in prison for the crimes.
On Friday, a judge formally sentenced Youngblood to 78 years, the Associated Press reported. Prior to sentencing, Youngblood spoke for 30 minutes about how difficult it was to raise her daughters.
“I’ve been a good mother, but something happened, I don’t know how to explain it,” Youngblood said via a Spanish interpreter. “Something exploded in my mind.”
Youngblood’s public defender asked that the sentences for killing each daughter run concurrently, meaning Youngblood would only be sentenced to 42 years. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows, however, denied that request.
“Mothers and fathers have many responsibilities, but none is more grave than keeping their children safe,” Bellows said, according to the AP. “Tragically, their mother became the instrument of their death.”
Youngblood’s public defender said the mother would appeal the sentence.
“Sharon and Brooklynn are two children that should be alive today,” Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement back in March. “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.”
Youngblood shot Brooklyn in the head and Sharon in her chest and back. Sharon managed to call 911 and tell authorities that her mother shot her. Brooklyn died at the scene, while Sharon died at a hospital sometime later.
While Sharon spoke with 911, Youngblood called her ex-husband, Ron Youngblood, and left a message saying she had shot their children and hated him.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
“The suspect, 33-year-old Veronica Youngblood, was found in Loudoun County after an acquaintance called police when Youngblood knocked on their front door,” Fairfax County police said in a press release in 2018.
Prosecutors said at trial that Youngblood killed her children to get back at her ex-husband for planning to move to Missouri with their youngest daughter.
“This person wants to manipulate, this person wants to lie, ensue chaos, all for this person’s personal gain,” prosecutor Claiborne Richardson said at trial, according to Law & Crime. “Ms. Youngblood is spiteful, selfish, vengeful and calculated.”
Nine days before the shooting, Youngblood purchased the gun she used to kill her daughter. She also gave them sleeping pill gummies before she murdered them.
Youngblood pleaded not guilty and claimed insanity, saying she had been physically and sexually abused growing up. She said she went into sex work to care for her first daughter, Sharon, and that she met her ex-husband through sex work.
She went on to blame her ex-husband for the girls’ deaths as he sat in the courtroom.
