Maricopa County Sheriff's OfficeA 92-year-old woman shot her son dead after he told her he was going to put her in a care home.
Anna Mae Blessing, from Fountain Hills, Arizona, had reportedly been told by her 72-year-old son Thomas Blessing that she was becoming difficult to live with in the house she shared with he and his 57 -year-old girlfriend.
The pensioner had shared the condo with her son and his girlfriend for around six months.
Thomas Blessing told his mother that he wanted to send her to live in a care home, and according to police reports the nonagenarian had considered this for several days.
She came to a conclusion on her thoughts about her son’s plan, and it was a horrific one.
Blessing hid two guns she had owned since the 1970s in the pockets of her dressing gown, and confronted her son in his bedroom before shooting him.
The terrible event took place on the morning of July 2 as the woman shot multiple rounds hitting her son in the neck and jaw, killing him.
PixabayBlessing then turned her attentions to her son’s girlfriend. The pensioner reportedly struggled, losing her grip on one of the guns, but she still had the second one to hand.
She aimed at her son’s partner, but the gun was knocked from the mother’s hand by her target before she had chance to shoot.
The girlfriend then escaped from the area, and called police.
When police arrived at the scene, they reportedly ordered Blessing to come outside, but were met with no response. She was found sat in a reclining chair in her bedroom.
Police escorted the murder suspect from the scene, while she reportedly said of her son ‘You took my life, so I’m taking yours’.
The mother went on to tell police that she planned to kill herself, and that she deserved to be ‘put to sleep’ for what she had done. The probable cause for arrest statement mentioned that Blessing ‘intended to kill herself, however she didn’t possess any additional firearms.’
Blessing was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping. Bail has been set at $500,000.
Sheriff Penzone, from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, said more about the situation in the police report.
He said:
It is always concerning when domestic issues escalate to violence or tragic outcomes. They are often isolated and neither predictable nor preventable.
PixabayArizona’s Family report that court documents state there was a history of domestic violence between the mother and her son, with at least one incident that resulted in the police being involved.
Sgt. Bryant Vanegas, also from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, told Arizona’s Family that the event was an unusual one.
He said:
This is definitely an odd one. There’s a lot of circumstances surrounding it, of course, but it’s definitely something you don’t see every day and it’s very unfortunate that this took place.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.