Virginia Mother Drugged, Fatally Shot Her 2 Daughters to Get Revenge on Ex-Husband. Now, She’s Learned Her Fate.

A Virginia mother who gave her daughters melatonin gummies to sedate them before fatally shooting them in 2018 has been sentenced to 78 years in prison, according to authorities.

On Aug. 5, 2018, Veronica Youngblood, 37, shot 15-year-old Sharon Castro and 5-year-old Brooklyn Youngblood and then called her ex-husband to tell him that she killed the children and she hated him, the Washington Post reported.

While Veronica was leaving a message for her ex-husband, Ron Youngblood, her teen daughter, who was shot in the back and the chest, called 911 and told them her mother shot her. Sharon died at the hospital and Brooklyn was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot once in the head.

During the trial, prosecutors said the murders were vengeance against Ron, who was planning to move to Missouri and take Brooklyn with him.

Prosecutors stated Veronica bought the gun used in the murders days before with the sole purpose of killing her daughters. She then gave them sleeping pills before shooting them, officials said.

Veronica’s attorney, Dawn Butorac, argued that Youngblood was from Argentina and grew up in poverty and was physically and sexually abused by family members. She said Veronica became a sex worker, which is how she met Ron and married him in 2009.

In March, Youngblood was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony firearm use, as Front Page Detectives previously reported.

On Sept. 22, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows sentenced Youngblood to 78 years in prison, the New York Post reported.

During her sentencing, Youngblood called herself a “good mother” and said “something happened” in her brain, authorities said.

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Youngblood spoke about her daughters and the hardships she faced while raising them, saying, “I don’t know how to explain it, something exploded in my mind.”

Youngblood’s attorneys asked the two sentences run concurrently, which would have reduced the sentence from 78 years to 42 years, The Post reported. However, Judge Bellows nixed that idea.