Martha Jo Blake allegedly confessed that she and her mother had begun having the discussion around a year and a half prior about "death with dignity."
A Florida woman has been booked into jail on a first-degree premeditated murder charge for allegedly suffocating her Parkinson's-stricken 97-year-old mother to death. Martha Jo Blake, 66, had told deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that she had last seen her mother alive at around 10 pm on Christmas Day.
The 97-year-old, Patricia Blake, had been suffering from Parkinson's disease and a thyroid disorder, and was found dead at her Palm Beach family home. An autopsy revealed that Patricia Blake had suffered from a number of injuries, including a broken neck, that were consistent with a homicide, per the New York Post. She also suffered from eye hemorrhaging consistent with suffocation.
The sheriff’s office said that by the time the elderly Blake had been sent to the county medical examiner, her skin at a purple tint, especially around the nose, indicating that something had been placed on her face before or while she was dying. One deputy went back to review bodycam footage from when deputies originally responded to Martha Jo Blake’s home, and noticed a quarter-sized red mark on the side of her neck.
They obtained a search warrant and sought out Martha Jo Blake, who had still been at her family’s home with her friends. She reportedly confessed that she and her mother had begun having the discussion around a year and a half prior about "death with dignity." The elderly Blake’s doctor, who was based in Maine, reportedly denied the request.
Under Maine law, a person seeking physician-assisted suicide must have a terminal illness with a six-month prognosis. Parkinson’s is not considered a terminal illness, but can contribute to other complications that can be fatal.
Martha Jo Blake allegedly said that they attempted to find alternatives after the request was denied, including suicide by pills, but abandoned the idea when it was found they didn’t have anything lethal on hand. She told investigators that she had been her mother’s caregiver for around five years, and that her mother had expressed a desire to die because of her health conditions.
The first-degree premeditated murder charge carries the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty in Florida.
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