A 92-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of her son after allegedly telling him "you took my life, so I'm taking yours” over his decision to place her in a care home.
Anna Mae Blessing is accused of shooting her 72-year-old son during an argument at their home in Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona.
Police were called to the property at around 10am on Monday night by the son’s girlfriend, who reportedly disarmed Blessing in a struggle after the incident.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Blessing said she had been thinking about her son’s plan to place her in a home for a number of days prior.
She told detectives she then took two pistols and concealed them in the pockets of her robe before confronting her son in his bedroom.
The nonagenarian had moved in with her son four months earlier and the girlfriend told officers she had “become difficult to live with”.
In her statement to police, the girlfriend said Blessing told her son she was tired of the way she was being treated by the pair.
The sheriff’s report said during the confrontation Blessing pulled out one of the pistols and fired multiple times at her son.
The son, who has not been named, was later found with a gunshot wound to the neck and jaw and pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives said Blessing then pointed the pistol at her son’s girlfriend, which was knocked out her hand before reaching for the second pistol, which was also taken off her.
The girlfriend then called the police and Blessing was placed into custody.
Court documents said that as Blessing was escorted from the home she said to detectives that she had told to her son "you took my life, so I'm taking yours".
She explained she felt her life was effectively being ended by her son and his girlfriend's decision to place her in a home.
Asked what she thinks should happen to her and she told detectives she should be "put to sleep".
Blessing has since been charged with 1st degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of kidnapping.
Maricopa Sheriff Paul Penzone said: “It is always concerning when domestic issues escalate to violence or tragic outcomes.
“They are often isolated and neither predictable nor preventable.”
Anna Mae Blessing is accused of shooting her 72-year-old son during an argument at their home in Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona.
Police were called to the property at around 10am on Monday night by the son’s girlfriend, who reportedly disarmed Blessing in a struggle after the incident.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Blessing said she had been thinking about her son’s plan to place her in a home for a number of days prior.
She told detectives she then took two pistols and concealed them in the pockets of her robe before confronting her son in his bedroom.
The nonagenarian had moved in with her son four months earlier and the girlfriend told officers she had “become difficult to live with”.
In her statement to police, the girlfriend said Blessing told her son she was tired of the way she was being treated by the pair.
The sheriff’s report said during the confrontation Blessing pulled out one of the pistols and fired multiple times at her son.
The son, who has not been named, was later found with a gunshot wound to the neck and jaw and pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives said Blessing then pointed the pistol at her son’s girlfriend, which was knocked out her hand before reaching for the second pistol, which was also taken off her.
The girlfriend then called the police and Blessing was placed into custody.
Court documents said that as Blessing was escorted from the home she said to detectives that she had told to her son "you took my life, so I'm taking yours".
She explained she felt her life was effectively being ended by her son and his girlfriend's decision to place her in a home.
Asked what she thinks should happen to her and she told detectives she should be "put to sleep".
Blessing has since been charged with 1st degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of kidnapping.
Maricopa Sheriff Paul Penzone said: “It is always concerning when domestic issues escalate to violence or tragic outcomes.
“They are often isolated and neither predictable nor preventable.”
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