Several witnesses were brought to tears Wednesday in the trial of a woman accused of killing her two daughters in Fairfax County in 2018.
Veronica Youngblood is charged with murdering her 5 and 15-year-old daughters inside their McLean apartment.
First responders testified that 15-year-old Sharon Castro was still alive when they arrived.
“She said her mom came into the room and said, ‘I’m gonna take you to see God,’ and then shot her," former officer Ryan Fisher said.
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Castro's 5-year-old sister, Brooklynn, had already died.
Prosecutors said Youngblood took off with the gun after the shooting. She was arrested in Ashburn outside the house of a man named Manuel, who she briefly dated.
Youngblood’s defense attorneys pointed out during their opening statements how calm she appeared in police video, and said that was a result of her mental illness, which lead her to kill her daughters.
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The defense also showed images of small red ribbons tied through her apartment.
During jury selection, Youngblood’s attorneys said they would discuss her involvement in a fringe South American religion called Umbanda in which red ribbons ward off evil spirits and followers believe they can communicate with the dead through rituals and mediums.
Defense attorneys portrayed Youngblood as a life-long victim of sexual, physical and mental abuse.
"That horror that was stored up in the corners of her mind … lead her to kill her children," attorneys told the jury Wednesday to set up their argument that Youngblood is not guilty by reason of insanity.
Attorneys say Youngblood killed her daughters following a contentious divorce and said Youngblood called her ex after the shooting, left him a voicemail telling what she did and saying she planned to take her own life next.
