Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone announced Thursday afternoon that his office is conducting an internal review of previous calls for service at a residence where a homicide occurred Monday, July 2.

Deputies arrested 92-year-old Anna Mae Blessing for killing her 78-year-old son, Thomas, following a verbal altercation about whether Ms. Blessing should be moved to an assisted living facility.

Penzone said deputies had responded to four or five calls over the past five or six weeks. He said not all of those calls involved conflict.

Penzone said questions have come up concerning whether deputies answering those previous calls did all they might have done to prevent the ultimate homicide.

“We are conducting a thorough audit of the calls and tapes,” Penzone said. “We want to see if all action taken by deputies might have mitigated the outcome.”

He said if mistakes were made there will be accountability, and/or updates in training for deputies.

Penzone said he wants to be clear that deputies are not mental health professionals, drug addiction counselors or social workers.

“We are responsible for any legal aspects of our responses,” Penzone said.

He added that ultimately the person committing the crime is responsible for their actions.

Penzone also reported that detectives found 13 firearms in the apartment where the shooting took place near Saguaro and El Lago boulevards. Eleven of those belonged to the victim. The other two were those the suspect owned. He noted that from previous calls deputies were aware there were weapons in the home, however, they did not know the number.

He said those firearms were not secure and readily accessible.

As an update, Penzone said that Ms. Blessing is being held at the jail infirmary where, due to her advanced age, she can be monitored by medical personnel.