‘You Took My Life, So I’m Taking Yours.’ Woman, 92, Allegedly Kills Son Who Tried to Put Her in Assisted Living
Anna Mae Blessing shot and killed son
A 92-year-old Arizona woman allegedly shot and killed her 72-year-old son after he tried to put her in assisted living, police said.Officers arrived at Anna Mae Blessing’s home in Fountain Hills, Arizona on Monday and found her son, Thomas Blessing, dead on the floor of the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to the neck and jaw, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said they found Blessing sitting on a recliner in her bedroom and arrested her when she muttered to police, “You took my life, so I’m taking yours.”
Blessing told police she killed her son because was wanted to take her to an assisted living facility.
Blessing entered the master bedroom and began arguing with her son and his 57-year-old girlfriend and told them that she was tired of the way she was being treated when she shot her son. She then attempted to shoot her son’s girlfriend but the younger woman was able to wrestle the gun away from Blessing and threw it in the corner, police said.
Blessing then pulled a second gun from her robe and pointed it at the girlfriend but she was able to wrestle it away, as well.
Blessing told police she purchased the handguns in the 1970’s and that she came to live with her son and his girlfriend four months ago. She told police she had been up for the last three to four nights thinking about her son telling her he was going to place her in an assisted living facility.
After shooting her son, Blessing said checked his pulse to confirm he was dead, according to police. She said that when she returned to her room she wanted to kill herself but did not have a gun because her son’s girlfriend wrestled them away.
She was taken into custody and when police asked her what should be done with her, she told officers that she should be “put to sleep”
“It is always concerning when domestic issues escalate to violence or tragic outcomes,” Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said in a statement. “They are often isolated and neither predictable nor preventable.”
Blessing is facing one count each of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.