Woman, 92, refuses assisted living facility, shoots and kills son

PHOENIX — An elderly Fountain Hills woman has been charged with murder after shooting and killing her son.

After Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies received a call of unknown trouble at 16800 East El Lago Boulevard in Fountain Hills, they discovered 92-year-old Anne Mae Blessing had shot and killed her 72-year-old son.

According to police, Blessing had been contemplating her son’s intentions of sending her to an assisted living facility. She concealed two pistols in her robe before confronting her son over the matter. She pulled out a handgun, shooting her son multiple times.

The son’s name was not immediately released.

Blessing then pointed the weapon at her son’s girlfriend. The two struggled over the gun after it was dislodged from Blessing before she grabbed the second weapon and aimed it at the girlfriend.

Her son’s girlfriend, who was not identified, was able to knock the second gun out of her possession and contacted MCSO, who arrested the woman.

“It is always concerning when domestic issues escalate to violence or tragic outcomes,” Sheriff Penzone said. “They are often isolated and neither predictable nor preventable.”

Blessing had been living with her son and his girlfriend for about six months, according to court records.

She was charged with one count of first degree murder, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of kidnapping.

Blessing was in a wheelchair at her initial court appearance Tuesday where her bond was set at $500,000 and a lawyer was being appointed to represent her.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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