The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has identified a 92-year-old woman as the suspect in custody for shooting and killing her son at a Fountain Hills condominium on Monday morning, July 2.

Deputies responded to a report of unknown trouble at the Village at Town Center complex at Saguaro and El Lago boulevards at about 10 a.m. where they discovered a man had been shot and was deceased.

MCSO is reporting that they believe that 92-year-old Anna Mae Blessing had shot and killed her 72-year-old son.

According to statements by suspect Blessing and received by the detectives, she had been contemplating for several days her son’s intentions to place her in an assisted living facility.

Detectives say the elder Blessing retrieved two pistols and concealed them in the pockets of her robe, then confronted her son in his bedroom. During the confrontation, Blessing allegedly removed the handgun and fired multiple rounds, striking and killing her son.

She then pointed the gun at her son’s girlfriend and the two struggled over the weapon when it was dislodged from her hand. Blessing retrieved the second handgun and attempted to point it at the girlfriend, who knocked it from Blessing’s possession.

The girlfriend contacted MCSO, who responded and ultimately took Blessing into custody.

“It is always concerning when domestic issues escalate to violence or tragic outcomes,” said Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone. “They are often isolated and neither predictable nor preventable.”

Blessing was charged with one count of murder in the first degree, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of kidnapping.