Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘She Called to Say I Killed Them’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Lives Here,’ the primary focus is on Ronald Youngblood, who lost his daughters — Sharon and Brooklynn — in August 2018. He talks about his life before he met Veronica and his marriage with her, which deteriorated with time after he allegedly found out that she had been having an affair a couple of times. The episode also covers a detailed account of the double homicide committed by Veronica and the investigation that ensued.
Veronica Youngblood Had Already Entered Motherhood Before Meeting Her Future Husband
Born in the mid-1980s, Veronica Youngblood was raised in Argentina and was allegedly physically and sexually abused as a child. By the tender age of 16, she became a mother to her daughter, Sharon Castro, and began working as a sex worker in order to get by and provide for her daughter. A few years later, she crossed paths with a US Navy marine named Ronald “Ron” Youngblood, whom she dated for less than a couple of years before tying the knot with him in 2009. Due to the nature of his job, the married couple and Sharon moved to different places on a regular basis before settling down in Virginia. Not long after their marriage, they became parents to another daughter named Brooklynn Michelle.
Over the next few years, Veronica allegedly had a couple of extra-marital affairs with different men, especially when Ron had been temporarily transferred away from the family. According to him, when he confronted her about it for the second time, the couple decided to part ways and got divorced in 2016. Things reportedly got uglier between the couple when it came to getting custody of their daughter. Not only was Ron allowed to move in with Brooklynn, but he also won the custody dispute against Veronica. Infuriated by the result of the custody battle, Veronica reportedly purchased a handgun in late July 2018.
A Lost Custody Battle Led Veronica Youngblood to Commit Murder
On the night of August 5, 2018, Veronica was all alone with her two daughters in their apartment in McLean, Virginia. Finding the perfect opportunity for her sinister plan, she sedated her two daughters by giving them melatonin-laced gummy bears. She then loaded the handgun she had bought a few days prior and shot 15-year-old Sharon with it before proceeding to shoot 5-year-old Brooklynn in her head. Upon learning that the former was still alive, she shot him yet again. Veronica also called her former husband, Ron, to inform him that she had killed their daughters and that she hated him. While Brooklynn died on the spot, Sharon died a few days later in the hospital.
Soon after the double homicide, she was taken into custody and interrogated in the same month of the killings. During the interview, she showed no signs of hesitation in admitting that she committed the murders. She claimed that due to the unfavorable result of the custody dispute, she planned to kill the children as well as herself. According to her, she deserved the death penalty, which was banned in the state of Virginia in 2021.
Veronica Youngblood is Incarcerated in a Virginia Prison Facility Today
Nearly five years later, in March 2023, Veronica Youngblood stood trial for the murders of her daughters, Sharon and Brooklynn. During the two-week trial, she presented an insanity defense by claiming that she heard voices in her head. However, her plea was rejected, and on March 22, 2023, she was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of firearm felony. Several months later, on September 22, 2023, at her sentencing, she talked about the difficulties she faced raising her children for about half an hour.
In Spanish, Veronica claimed that she had been a good mother until that particular moment on the fateful night. According to her, “something exploded” in her head and made her kill her own daughters. Later, she was sentenced to 78 years in prison for the murders, after which the defense requested to allow the convict to serve the sentences concurrently. However, the judge denied the appeal. As of today, the killer is serving her sentence at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia, with her release date scheduled for 2086.
