Records: 92-year-old woman kills son after refusing to be sent to assisted living facility

Angie Forburger | The Republic | azcentral.com

Show Caption Hide Caption Initial appearance of Anna Mae Blessing Anna Mae Blessing, of Fountain Hills, is accused of fatally shooting her 72-year-old son because he planned to put her in an assisted-living facility.

A 92-year-old woman shot and killed her son in Fountain Hills on Monday after she refused to be sent to an assisted living facility, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

"You took my life, so I'm taking yours," Anna Mae Blessing reportedly said as deputies escorted her from the apartment she shared with 72-year-old son Thomas Blessing and his girlfriend.

Court records show Blessing had been contemplating her son's intentions to put her in an assisted living facility for several days prior to the Monday morning shooting. Blessing told deputies her son wanted her to leave because she "had become difficult to live with."

Blessing reported hiding two pistols in the pockets of her robe before confronting her sleeping son, court records show.

She fired one of the pistols multiple times, striking and killing her son before pointing the gun at his girlfriend, who wrestled away the firearm and threw it into a corner of the room, court records show.

Blessing then retrieved the second handgun from her pocket, records show, and attempted to point it at the girlfriend, who again knocked it out of her hand.

While the girlfriend fled the room, court records said, Blessing proceeded to sit in her recliner in her bedroom and told detectives that she wanted to kill herself, but had no additional weapons to do so.

Deputies arrived following the incident and took Blessing into custody.

Officials said Blessing faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping. Her bond was set at $500,000.

Blessing's next court hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. July 10.

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