Anna Mae Blessing

“	You took my life, so I'm taking yours.	„
	~ Anna Mae Blessing

Anna Mae Blessing (November 30, 1925 - 2019) was an old woman who killed her son, Thomas, because he wanted to put her in assisted living facility. It was a tragic event for once stable, normal family.

Villainy

Anna came to live with her son Thomas and his girlfriend Julie approximately 6 or 4 months before the murder. At some point Anna and Thomas started having tensions and verbal conflicts. The Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies received multiple calls for domestic disputes that they had to respond to. Both parties have expressed a concern that the other party could become violent. Her son once told her that he is going to put her in assisted living facility because she "had become difficult to live with". Anna has been thinking about what her son had told her for a few days before the murder.

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Anna Blessing, left, had been living with her son Thomas, right, and his girlfriend Julie, middle, at the time of the shooting (Picture: ABC)

In morning of July 2, 2018, Blessing picked up two handguns which she kept under the shelf in her bedroom. The first gun was a revolver which she bought in the late 1970's and registered in California. The second gun was a .25 caliber pistol which she received as a gift from her deceased husband in the mid 1970's but she didn't register. She entered the bedroom in which her son and his wife were. She and her son started arguing. At one point Blessing took out the revolver and shot him two times causing him to fall on the floor. Blessing bent down to feel his pulse and realized he didn't have one. She then pointed the revolver at her son's girlfriend who managed to wrestle it away. Blessing then pulled out the second gun and it got wrestled out of her hand too. The girlfriend had escaped and called 911. Blessing went to her bedroom and sat on a chair. She wanted to kill herself too, but she didn't posses any additional firearms. The Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies arrived and apprehended her. During her arrest she said: "You took my life, so I'm taking yours":

Blessing confessed her crime and explained her motive to the police. She was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping. While she was in jail, her health had become very bad and she missed multiple court dates. On November 9 she had a stroke and was transported into hospice care. She died at age 93 in a hospice care and in January 10 The Maricopa County Attorney's Office filed a motion to dismiss the case without prejudice citing her death as the reason.

Trivia

• Blessing's granddaughter told ABC15 that Blessing should be released from jail so that she can have her dignity back.