Fairfax Co. Jury Recommends 78 Years In Prison For McLean Woman Who Killed Her Daughters

MCLEAN, VA — A Fairfax County jury on Monday recommended a woman receive 78 years in prison for fatally shooting her two daughters at their McLean home in 2018.

After a nearly two-week trial, the jury convicted Veronica Youngblood, 37, of four felonies last week, including two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a murder.

A sentencing hearing will be held on Sept. 22 to hear additional victim testimony. A circuit court judge then will impose Youngblood's final prison sentence.

On Aug. 5, 2018, Youngblood shot her daughters, Sharon Castro, 15, and Brooklynn Youngblood, 5, in their apartment in the McLean area of Tysons, according to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.

She told Fairfax County police detectives that she planned to kill them and herself following a custody dispute with her ex-husband, Ron, which had Brooklynn set to move to Missouri that weekend, the commonwealth’s attorney’s office said.

Youngblood purchased a gun on July 27, 2018, and, on the night of the killings, fed her daughters sleeping pill gummies before shooting them in their beds, according to prosecutors.

“Sharon and Brooklynn are two children that should be alive today,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement Monday. “This case is a terrible tragedy, and I hope today’s verdict brings a measure of healing for the family.”

Brooklynn died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head. Sharon was shot once in the back and again in the chest. She was able to call 911 and tell first responders that her mother had shot her. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died.

Youngblood was born in Argentina and met Ron Youngblood, a Navy pilot, while he was stationed there in 2007. They moved to Virginia in 2015 and divorced in 2016.

In closing arguments at her trial last week, Fairfax County Public Defender Dawn Butorac said Youngblood grew up in poverty in Argentina.

Butorac said Youngblood was physically and sexually abused by family members and later became a sex worker after becoming pregnant with Sharon at 16, The Washington Post reported.

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