Mother convicted of killing two daughters has violent outburst as prosecution addresses jurors

Veronica Youngblood, 37, of McLean, Virginia faced justice on Thursday, the fateful day of the penalty phase of her trial for the double murder of her daughters Sharon Castro, 15 and Brooklynn Youngblood, 5.

Prosecutors, who are seeking two life sentences, described her as a murderer, not a victim, with no mercy, while defense portrayed her as an unfortunate product of an alarming history of child abuse. In a shocking outburst, Youngblood wailed and struggled to break free from guards who carried her from the courtroom, arguably providing a chilling glimpse of her prior mental state.

Youngblood took the stand earlier in the day and wept as she recounted her own tumultuous childhood memories. Her mother and father had regularly beat her until she was unable to walk as a child, and her grandfather sexually assaulted her multiple times.

Later, raising Sharon in Argentina, she mentioned how she could not afford to clothe or feed her.

On the day of the girls’ murder, Youngblood had fed them sleeping pill gummies, and then shot Brooklynn in the head and Sharon in the back and chest, with a handgun she’d bought days earlier. Sharon managed to call 911, but unfortunately succumbed to her wounds in the hospital, and Brooklynn was pronounced dead at the scene.

Afterwards, Youngblood had called her ex-husband and told him that she had killed their daughters, fueled by hate for him.

Ron Youngblood, the girls’ father, addressed the court in which he shared heart-shattering details of his daughters’s characters. Brooklynn was described as having a love for animals and Sharon was remembered for the thoughtful Father’s Day collage she’d given her dad.