Daughter facing murder charge in death of ailing mom, 97, near Greenacres

66 year old woman faces murder charges after investigators found his 97-year-old mother dead in the family’s home. House in Greenacres The morning after Christmas.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested Martha Jo Blake on a charge of first-degree murder after the Medical Examiner’s Office determined her mother’s injuries were not consistent with a natural death.

An autopsy showed Patricia Blake was either strangled or strangled, according to her daughter’s arrest report.

Martha Jo Blake reportedly told investigators that she wanted to die because her mother suffered from several illnesses, including Parkinson’s disease and a thyroid disorder.

At a hearing held at the Palm Beach County Jail on Dec. 27, District Judge Lourdes Casanova ordered Blake held without bail and granted the state’s request for a pretrial detention hearing. If such an order is granted, it could keep him in custody until his trial begins.

The judge appointed a public defender to represent Blake. As a matter of policy, the county Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.

According to the arrest report, deputies responded shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 26 to the Blakes’ home in the Cresthaven Ashley neighborhood, located near John I. Leonard High School and just north of the Greenacres city limits, to conduct a death investigation.

Martha Jo Blake told investigators she last saw her mother alive the night before.

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Because Patricia Blake’s primary care doctor was unavailable, investigators referred the case to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. The arrest report stated that the doctor assigned to him observed that the older Blake had a fresh fracture in his neck, internal bleeding on both sides of his neck, and signs of something being placed in his face.

Martha Jo Blake voluntarily told investigators that she had been her mother’s primary caregiver for about five years. She said her mother had expressed a desire to die due to health issues and had previously discussed the “Death with Dignity” option with her mother’s primary care doctor in Maine.

The “Death with Dignity” law is a type of assisted suicide that is currently legal in 12 states, including Maine and the District of Columbia. It’s not legal in Florida.

Martha Jo Blake told investigators that her mother was deemed ineligible for Maine’s Medical Assistance in Dying program because she was not terminally ill. He stated that he and his mother discussed the option of suicide by taking pills, but decided that there was no drug lethal enough to kill him.

Julius Whigham II is the criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article was first published in the Palm Beach Post: Florida woman faces murder charge in death of 97-year-old mother