A mum who fed her two daughters sleeping gummies and shot them dead in their beds will have to spend 78 years in jail before being considered for release, and will most likely died behind bars.
Veronica Youngblood, 37, from Virginia, US, has been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of use of a firearm after murdering 15-year-old Sharon Castro and five-year-old Brooklynn Youngblood at their flat in August, 2018.
The mum shot dead her daughters after a dispute with her estranged husband Ronald Youngblood amid concerns her five-year-old daughter was going to move to Missouri with him.
Authorities said the mum planned to kill her daughters and then shot herself after buying a gun on July 27.
The killer fed her daughters sleeping pill gummies before shooting both the girls dead in their beds on August 5.
Her 15-year-old daughter, who was shot once in the back and once in the chest, called cops to report the shooting but she tragically died in hospital just hours later.
The mum was taken into custody on August 6, 2018 without incident and held without bond. Her gun was taken off her by cops after she was arrested.
Ms Youngblood had pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity but the jury rejected the defence after the mum decided to give her two children sleeping gummies before shooting them dead.
Fairfax County Public Defender Dawn Butorac claimed the mum's attacks were attributed to her growing up in poverty and being subjected to physical and sexual abuse by family members.
She became a sex worker after becoming pregnant at 16 with her eldest daughter, according to her lawyer.
In addition, the mum heard voices in her head in the lead up to the horrific murders, it was claimed.
Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelsey Gill told the court she was a "malicious, selfish and deliberate killer".
Ms Gill said during closing statements: "This case goes well beyond merely having a mental illness.
"This goes well beyond depression. This goes well beyond PTSD. This goes well beyond being suicidal."
She will serve 36 years for each murder count and three years for each weapon count when she's officially sentenced on September 22.
In other tragic news elsewhere, three sisters in Texas, US, who were thought to have drowned in a nearby pond, had actually been strangled to death, according to an autopsy.
Zi'Ariel Robinson Oliver, 9, A'Miyah Hughes, 8, and Te'Mari Robinson Oliver, 5, were pulled from the water on July 30, 2022.
But following an investigation which has lasted more than eight months, the Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton revealed the sisters had died by strangulation and suffered cuts to their faces.
The attorney has pleaded for anyone with information to come forward as the investigation into the children's deaths continues.
Ms Shelton said: "Multiple witness statements have been obtained, DNA testing is ongoing, and the investigation will continue."
Authorities refused to discuss any motives or potential suspects.
