Florida caregiver accused of suffocating 97-year-old mother after assisted suicide denied

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Deputies say a woman made a bizarre confession after investigators determined her 97-year-old mother did not die naturally, but was suffocated.

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies say they were called to a home on the 2800 block of Ashley Drive on Friday for a death investigation, according to previous reports.

A deputy responded to the area to find 97-year-old Patricia Blake deceased, lying on her back with sheets covering her body.

In an interview with deputies, Martha Jo Blake said she last saw her mother alive at 10 p.m. the day before, saying she had Parkinson’s disease and a thyroid disorder.

An autopsy discovered several suspicious things that were more consistent with a homicide than a natural death, per PBSO. The medical examiner told deputies that Blake’s skin was a purplish color, especially on the nose, consistent with something being placed on the face. She also had eye hemorrhaging consistent with suffocation and a broken neck.

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A deputy said he later reviewed body cam from the body’s discovery and saw a quarter-sized red mark on the side of Patricia’s neck.

Upon this discovery, deputies issued a search warrant and found Martha Jo with her friends inside the home. They then interviewed Martha, who made a bizarre confession.

She told deputies that she was her mother’s primary caregiver for five years, and that around a year and a half ago, they had discussed “death with dignity” with Patricia’s doctor in Maine.

However, the doctor refused to carry out an assisted suicide because she didn’t have a terminal illness, according to the criminal probable cause affidavit. At one point, the duo had discussed suicide by pills, but ditched the idea because they didn’t have anything that was lethal that she could take.

The search warrant uncovered a pair of white calf-length socks in a shopping bag within a garbage bag on the front porch, which they took for evidence.

Based on the investigation, deputies say they found probable cause to book Martha Jo Blake on a charge of first-degree murder.

Blake will remain at the Palm Beach County Jail until a judge holds a pre-trial detention hearing.