Caregiver daughter accused of strangling 97-year-old mom

Angie DiMichele, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Dec 29, 2025

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A West Palm Beach woman is accused of strangling her 97-year-old mother the day after Christmas, telling detectives that the two had previously discussed ways to end the woman’s life as her mother struggled with health issues.

Martha Jo Blake, 66, is facing one count of first-degree murder in the death of her mother, Patricia Blake, whom she served as the caregiver for over the past five years, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Deputies were called to the apartment the mother and daughter shared near the 2800 block of Ashley Drive West shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 26 to investigate the death, the affidavit said. Patricia Blake was found lying in her bed on her back with sheets over her body and pronounced dead.

Martha Jo Blake told investigators of her mother’s medical history of Parkinson’s disease and a thyroid disorder and said she last saw her mother about 10 p.m. the night before, the affidavit said. One deputy later said that he found it “off” that Martha Jo Blake insisted on staying with her mother’s body while they investigated and noticed Patricia Blake’s face was discolored.

Small, circular marks could be seen on the left side of Martha Jo Blake’s neck when body-worn camera footage was later reviewed.

An autopsy found that something had been placed over Patricia Blake’s nose, a new fracture in one of the bones in her neck and small spots of bleeding that indicate strangulation and lack of oxygen, according to the affidavit.

Detectives received a search warrant for the apartment after the autopsy determined Patricia Blake’s death was not from natural causes.

As the apartment was searched, Martha Jo Blake told a detective in a voluntary interview that she and her mother had talked about the possibility of medically assisted suicide with her primary care doctor in Maine about 18 months earlier, but Patricia Blake did not qualify under that state’s “Death With Dignity” law because she did not have a terminal illness, according to the affidavit.

The woman told her daughter numerous times that “she did not want to live,” Martha Jo Blake told the detective, according to the affidavit. The daughter told the detective they had also considered another method of suicide at one point. Other parts of Martha Jo Blake’s statement are redacted in the affidavit.

Detectives took from the apartment during the search a pair of socks in a shopping bag that were placed inside of a garbage bag on the front porch, bedding from Patricia Blake’s room and “the clothing that Martha stated she was wearing when she strangled Patricia,” according to the affidavit.

Martha Jo Blake was booked into the Main Detention Center early Saturday morning and remained there Monday afternoon.