Daughter allegedly kills mom with Parkinson’s disease after she was denied medically assisted suicide: cops

A Florida woman allegedly suffocated her ailing mother to death — and confessed that the pair had been brainstorming alternatives to medically assisted suicide after a doctor denied their request.

Patricia Blake, a 97-year-old woman suffering from Parkinson’s disease and a thyroid disorder, was found dead at her family home in Palm Beach, Fla.

Her daughter, 66-year-old Martha Jo Blake, told the responding deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office that she last saw her mother alive around 10 p.m. Christmas Day.

Martha Jo Blake, 66, faces a first-degree premeditated murder charge for her mother’s death. Palm Beach County Sheriff

Patricia’s body was carted off for an autopsy — which revealed that her various injuries, including a broken neck, were consistent with a homicide.

Other injuries the elderly woman sustained included eye hemorrhaging consistent with suffocation.

By the time the nonagenarian’s body was sent to the county’s medical examiner, her skin was tinted purple, specifically around her nose, which indicated something was placed on her face before or while she was dying, according to the sheriff’s office.

A deputy circled back to review body camera footage from the original response to Martha Jo’s home and noticed a quarter-sized red mark on the side of her neck.

From there, deputies obtained a search warrant and tracked down Martha Jo, who was still at her family’s home with her friends.

Martha Jo allegedly confessed that she and Patricia began having the difficult discussion about “death with dignity” about a year and a half ago.

Patricia’s doctor, who was based in Maine, denied their request, according to the sheriff’s office.

The family’s home in Palm Beach, Fla. was lit up with Christmas lights. WPBF 25

Maine law requires that a person seeking physician assisted suicide have a terminal illness with a six-month prognosis, according to the state legislature. Parkinson’s disease isn’t technically a terminal illness, but can contribute to other fatal complications.

Martha Jo said that they tried to find alternatives, including suicide by pills, but ditched the idea because they didn’t have anything on hand that was actually lethal.

While executing the search warrant, deputies found a pair of white calf-length socks in a shopping bag within a garbage bag on the front porch, which was taken for evidence.

Martha Jo was booked on a first-degree premeditated murder charge for her mother’s death, which in Florida carries the possibility for the death penalty or life in prison.