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

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

Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post

Tue, December 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM UTC

2 min read

A 66-year-old woman is facing a murder charge after investigators found her 97-year-old mother dead in the family's Greenacres-area home on the morning after Christmas.

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

An autopsy indicated Patricia Blake either was suffocated or strangled, according to her daughter's arrest report.

Martha Jo Blake reportedly told investigators that her mother had expressed a desire to die because she suffered from various illnesses, including Parkinson's disease and a thyroid disorder.

During a Dec. 27 hearing at the Palm Beach County Jail, County Judge Lourdes Casanova ordered that Blake be held without bail and granted the state's motion for a pretrial detention hearing. If granted, such an order could keep her in custody until her trial begins.

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

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

Martha Jo Blake told investigators that 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 doctor assigned to it observed that the elder Blake had a fresh neck fracture, an internal hemorrhage on both sides of her neck and an indication that something had been placed over her face, the arrest report said.

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

The "Death With Dignity" act is a form of assisted suicide that is currently legal in 12 states, including Maine and the District of Columbia. It is not legal in Florida.

Martha Jo Blake told investigators her mother was deemed ineligible for Maine's Medical Aid In Dying program because she did not have to a terminal illness. She indicated she and mother had discussed the option of suicide by taking pills, but determined they did not have any lethal enough to kill her.

Julius Whigham II is a 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, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida woman faces murder charge in death of 97-year-old mother

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