Former Florida caregiver Micayla Yusko has been sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of second-degree murder and burglary with battery in connection with the death of an elderly woman in Ponce Inlet in 2022.
The incident occurred on January 5, 2022, when Yusko, then 22 years old, along with an accomplice, entered the condominium of Margaret ‘Darlene’ Hindsley and fatally shot her. Hindsley succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.
Yusko confessed to Ponce Inlet police detectives that she and her accomplice had consumed drugs prior to the murder. Despite being Hindsley’s caregiver, Yusko directed her accomplice to shoot the woman twice in the head.
Surveillance footage captured their entry into Hindsley’s property around the time of the crime. Additionally, investigators recovered a narcotic substance known as “bath salt” and the firearm used in the murder.
State Attorney R.J. Larizza remarked, “Caregiver became murderer in this sad and disturbing case. Sometimes the people we entrust with our life take it instead.”
The Ponce Inlet Police Department led the investigation with support from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and investigators from the State Attorney’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak successfully prosecuted the case.