with everything that's happened now that you've had a chance to look back what do you think should happen right now what do you think should happen next well I probably ought to be put to sleep I'm no longer any good to society I killed my son this is the exact moment this 92-year-old woman Anna May blessings realizes she has been caught for killing her own son de heavenly father I know what I have done and I know it's a sin I know what I did exactly what I set out to do how the officers got to this moment was shocking enough but what came next was probably unlike anything they'd seen before H stop stop do not make any sudden movement do not make any movement I willon shoot you it started with a 911 call from Julie Thomas's girlfriend telling dispatchers that he had been shot just shot her son she's got another gu and she's going to shoot me get away she's got the G come right at me I'm afraid I don't want to shoot her help me help me oh my God her son's dead I think me too she's going to kill me she's going to kill me what's she comes she's coming for me no don't you dare Ann don't you dare when officers arrived she ran out to meet them frantic yelling a warning she still has the gun she has the gun were you the one on the phone yes there's another gun on the floor on the other side of the back bedroom door as a way to get that one we had a report there were two guns in the house [Music] Sho mother and threatened and bl why why dides she do this she hates him he hates her we moved around here a year ago he don't as the officers entered the room and call the name of their 92-year-old suspect Anna Anna Maricopa County Sheriff's office there was just silence Anna aopa County Sheriff's Office I need you to put the gun down now and that's unsettling because they know she's in there is she waiting for them is she armed is she even alive [Music] Anna Sheriff's Office Anna can you hear us Anna May Copa County Sheriff's Office I need you to put the gun down to come out with your hands up 7:43 we're inside however we can't get her to come out and put the gun down the temp inside can't get to come out Anna Put the gun down I need you to walk toward us with your hands up in the air Anna she's Anna I know you can hear me I need you to put the gun down and walk out toward me Anna then if you don't have the gun can you walk out in the living room with your hands up in the air Thomas blessings her 72-year-old son is already gone shot twice by the very woman who raised him hey he's uh he's gone check sir can you hear me they push forward clearing the house room by room she said we can come into the bedroom she's not walking out you want to go any closer Anna this is what I need to do I need you to come to me I cannot come to you I need you to come to me with your hands in the air until finally they spot her Hannah keep your hands where I can see them no sudden movements you understand you understand me right you got her I got her I'm going right I got this way you want to go with him got to my right Jones check the bathroom where Okay hold I got the pistol you you drop your wi Anna is just sitting there in a chair completely still Hannah you all right where's your gun where's your gun okay I is there anybody is there anybody else in the unit is there anybody else here Julie's outside you're here your son is here is there anybody else here okay just watching for hang on stop stop despite her frail appearance in old age anime blessing still managed to shock the officers in a way they probably never expected even at 92 Anna was still unpredictable any sudden movement do not make any movement I will shoot you they finally arrested her and brought her to police station where she was Kept For about 4 hours before the detective finally came in I have a seat there in the blue chair let me turn it around for you there we go let me see your hands get these off of you there's some water tisue what happened to my go oh well Deputy Bowers has it he just carried that in your stimulator in here okay you want to throw that tissue away pardon I got a trash can right here if you want to throw that tissue away gu has some water we place it there's a whole box right there huh there's a whole box right there oh I'm okay okay you need more water just let him know okay ma'am or let me know right yeah I can get you if you want some if you finish that I can get some more water okay okay then you don't have to go to the bathroom when you get old it's very hard on you yeah I imagine life is rough when you're 92 aging is often romanticized as a time of wisdom and reflection but the reality for many elderly individuals is far more complex loss of Independence isolation these emotions mix with anger and a sense of powerlessness the results can be tragic I had when we lived in not we when I lived in Florida before I came here I had a 2ot by 20 foot garden that I took care of I had a small rot tiller I tilled it I had First Fed vegetables in my home I had a beautiful garden cuz I I was I'm I'm a front heart and uh then you come to Arizona and you get stuck in a room and nobody talks to you you know I got thinking one those in there how many many millions of other old people this happens to it's you have no idea what goes on in a home with an old person it's just ridiculous somebody will be back in a few minutes check on you okay make sure you're doing okay okay better close the door now I'm going to close the door okay just give you some privacy can I have my water your water you when you want to drink just we'll be back in a few minutes okay okay I'll lay down dear heavenly father I know what I have done and I know it's a sin but my heavenly father I'm asking you for forgiveness for all he I did it because of all he's done to me he's so hateful I never heard of f word of his about till him Julie come down I swear I never please forgive me Lord for I know I have sinned amen I know what I did exactly what I set out to do this is the moment where she accepts it herself that her decision to murder her own son wasn't impulsive it was something that she had thought through and that's what makes this case so unsettling when we think of elderly individuals committing crimes we assume mental decline or confusion played a role but Anna knew exactly what she was doing hi Anna hi how you doing okay I briefly introduce myself before but my name is Tom sedle hi my name is Tom sedle and I'm a detective with the Sheriff's Office yeah um grenades have got that one's gone dead okay are you able to hear me this close before we get started do you need to use the restro or anything or are you okay well I'm okay okay now Anna because because you're down here at our office um it's standard practice that we read an individual they're they're right when since they're down here and you're meeting with a detective so I'm just going to briefly read your rights okay you have the right to remain silent anything you say can be used against you in a court of law do you understand those so far sure okay you have the right to the presence of an attorney to assist you prior to questioning and to be with you during questioning if you so desire do you understand that yeah but I can't get an attorney well we'll go over that in just a second if you cannot afford an attorney you have the right to have an attorney appointed for you prior to questioning do you do you understand these rights do you understand everything that I read to you yeah okay I may be 9 to but I'm rather coherent anime blessings interrogation had some truly wild moments but one of the weirdest has to be this she was coherent all right coherent enough to plan a murder and execute it at first glance it's shocking but when you dig deeper it becomes heartbreaking no and from what I've been told is that you're like for 92 you're sharp as a whip that you're you're very intelligent that you're very smart for your age Tom was set on having me um called uh well anyway I took the test at the doctor's office she says I'll never be uh um incapable or whatever they call it when people are can't cope with the realize know what things are all about so do you know what things are all are really all about I know the whole thing okay so what I would like for you to do is to walk me through everything that happened from the time that you woke up this morning Anna uh all the way up until me coming in here and talking to you right now well can I first of all tell you what led up to this what brought it on absolutely ever since uh we got to Florida well it's to Arizona started in Florida why I came with him I'll never know but Tom has a very F mouth and he's has a well he's had 2 years and two months of anger management cuz he used to be his his stepson that was years ago that was in Oregon and his wife turned him in for the kids and um he had not only that but he had a very foul mouth he was one of the most domineering persons I've ever known extremely domineering um he expects every everybody to hump for him and if not you can get called almost anything and when we lived down um um in Black Canyon um him and Julie had the bedroom not too too far from where mine was where close and he used to set that thermostat so cold and I would go out once in a while and turn it up a little bit couple degrees up because there was no no need for it but he seemed to feel there was and one day I walked out to the um kitchen and where he was and I said tell him I said could you and I have a a common sense um talk about the thermostat real quiet like because he's very very loud and mouthy and um he he looked came up to me and he got his face right down next to mine and he said um you FNB he says I'll talk to you anyway I want to as you can probably understand it wasn't totally about hatred it was about a loss of control for decades Anna had been independent now she felt like she was losing everything her home her Freedom her dignity While most people don't resort to violence that fear of being abandoned or powerless is something a lot of elderly people experience okay now you said that that you were living in Florida before y was Thomas also living out in Florida no I want to tell you about Florida my husband and I lived there for 20 years before he passed well he had 25 years by the time I moved but my husband passed away in ' 08 from cancer I was his caregiver and um Tom came down to visit us and I've never heard a foul word out of that kid's mouth until he came down with Julie did there come a point where you're in Florida at the time did there come a point where you could no like you no longer wanted to live in Florida and that you decided that you were going to come live with with Thomas I would like for him to to have moved far very wind the only reason I moved with th is and by the time I'm 93 I will lose an annuity that I have and the rent there was atrocious and that would have knocked me out good and um so he said we'll do it now now and um so that that's that's why I came but Tom has always ever since his father passed away him and his dad talked about it was when Mom when he passed he would see to look that I never had to go to a nursing home and um I don't know that bill meting promise or anything like that but from what I understand it was discussed but anyway Tom has always promised me Mom you'll never have to go to a nursing home you'll never have to go to a nursing home I will always take care of you so um I just took it for granted you know because uh I know Bill always made me promise him that I wouldn't send him up to the nursing home where we live he said if you do I'll haunt you so where do we even begin unpacking this case is it a story of extreme desperation a failure of our Elder Care System a tragic misunderstanding it's hard to say but one thing is certain this case isn't just about a crime a it's about what happens when fear and isolation push someone past their Breaking Point what makes this case even more frustrating is that this could have been prevented Thomas had already warned the cops about Anna's threats H sir how you doing good you hot enough for you it is just start of summer yeah what's going on uh there was an officer out today talked to my mother okay about her gun [Applause] um there's been a statement made to my girlr that um she was going she was going to go in the bedroom and shot me in the head we don't get along okay okay I brought her back from putting we brought her back from Florida cuz she couldn't afford to live there so and we are putting her in a nursing home okay trying to and she just we just there's not much we can you know do the woman is getting very fenile very angry uh she knows how to push my buttons my mother you know right and my daughter come in she' been here hasn't been here just one day and come in I haven't seen her in over 20 years and she took my mother yesterday for the day you know to do some things and everything else and my daughter said that my daughter's supposed to be here pretty soon said that uh all she did was gossip all day and she kept telling her grandma you can't do that this that's not why I'm here I'm not here to listen to your gossip I'm here because I haven't seen you you know and so it just been a does she have access to a gun oh she has a gun yeah the officer here today asked about it she was asking about the laws in Arizona and all that and I told my girlfriend I says well if she's made a threat I'm going to say more than likely they're going to either pull her gun or get a hold of um family or uh Senior Services mhm do something we're getting ready to go on vacation Monday hey how's it going pretty good hi hi and uh she can she cooks her own meals takes care of herself takes her own bath uh mhm dresses herself and everything we take her to the store she buys her groceries and everything and we haven't been done anything for over a year now and we decided we were going to go for a week and just relax forget about everything and I wanted to get this taken care of before we left one way or another no telling what she'll do I have no idea okay cuz she's on and off or do you have uh Power of Attorney on her no okay well as far as the gun goes um I don't know I'm not sure what the deputy talked about earlier but if she it's a process to get take someone's gun from him um even with a threat well she didn't specifically said the threat to you no she said it to my girlfriend okay she's allowed to own the gun in Arizona she's allowed to defend herself whatever means she just has to justify what she does she shoots me in the head that's not much Justus not specifically to you I'm just saying in general right so that's why Arizona is pretty lenient on their gun laws right I know that people people have it so you know it's nothing new yeah well there did there wasn't much when uh the deputy was here earlier that he can do and there's not much I can do okay um I just wanted to get out with you know what's going on right Arizona has some of the loosest firearm laws in the country it's a constitutional carry state meaning no permit is required to own or carry a gun no registration is needed and unless someone is actively committing a crime it's hard for police to take away their gun even if they've made threats but um I certainly didn't want to go up there either because uh I had um run the gift shop up there and knew what was going on and I wouldn't have wanted to lived there up in the Care Center either sure but when we left Florida and town was kind of misbehaving with his language I told uh Julia I said um I don't know for sure if I'm going to be able to live with him she says don't worry about it so Anna what I'd like to do is I'd like to fast forward to today yeah and what I'd like for you to do is to start by um basically begin with you waking up this morning Y and then when you first woke up this morning walk me through everything that happen wake up this morning I haven't slept for three nights because when they come in the house um they don't talk to me they just walk straight out through I stayed home for well I always stay home but I took care of Jasper Tom's Cat for four days five days while they went on a vacation that was fine cuz I had to stay home all the time anyway okay so what was going through your mind the last 3 or 4 days I mean it and what I'm trying to understand is if you were angry if you were sad if you were you know um you felt depressed if you were happy because um um they definitely were going to send me to a um old people's home and what made you feel as though they were definitely going to send you to an old people they told me did they tell you when they were going to send you to this not exactly but that I was that I had to go as physical and mental abilities decline decisions about health finances and living arrangements are often made for them not by them friends and spouses pass away children grow distant and Social Circles shrink the idea being placed in a nursing home or an unfamiliar setting can feel like being discarded Decades of losses whether loved ones careers or homes can create a deep sense of distant and consistent mourning these emotions don't just linger in the background they can build up leading to resentment paranoia and in extreme cases violence and um my granddaughter said to me that I was interfering with Tom and Brenda's Affair and I could have stood set and told her that one time when J not too long ago Julie came by me while I was working in the kitchen and she said some made some remark about their relationship and I told her that um I asked her I saids Julie did you and your first husband ever have three in the bed and she says no we never believed in it I says well I said then how about you and Tom and Jack Daniels not another word was said either way she she didn't say anything more and I didn't say anything more that was it okay last night um I mean were things normal in the house as as normal as they can be last night or did you have did you guys have any disagreements or any discussions last night come in the door they head for the bedroom and they get into bed they lay there and watch television I'm at the other end of the house for I'm sitting in a chair and watching television CU I have nobody to talk to okay was there I might as well not have voice speaking voice was there a point this morning sometime in the morning where you went into their [Music] bedroom you went into the master bedroom where Tom and and Julie sleep yeah okay so why did you decide to go into the bedroom well I figured if I didn't get it done I it wouldn't get solved okay what is it that you wanted to get done well I first I started to talk with Tom about about the situation and he says well we could have left you in Florida and when your money run out you be out on the street and and um you know I almost think that would have been better but this morning I I was tired I hadn't slept for so long and they had been ignoring me so thoroughly and were you were you upset were you angry when you went in there kind of yeah okay did you have were there any other feelings that were going through your head through your mind at that point no but until Tom started in on me and I okay what exactly did Tom tell you I I can't remember exactly okay um how did whatever it was that he told you how did it make you feel no different than what he's when he always gets on his Rampage okay so you said he had made these mentions about it would have been better for you to stay in FL Florida to stay in Florida well I agree with him I would have been better if I have stayed in Florida that fear that feeling of helplessness it boiled over into something unimaginable Anna grabbed two guns she had owned since the 1970s walked into her son's room and shot him twice and here's the Eerie part when the police arrived Anna was completely aware of what she had done she reportedly told him you took my wife so I took yours so what happens next after you have this discussion with Tom well I had my gun and I used it because they were going to send me to a home okay so you had your gun what what kind of gun did you have it was a Charter Arms Charter Arms and what caliber I can't remember the caliber it was a good size one so when you go into the into the bedroom and you have this Charter Arms Gun and uh you said that it doesn't you don't have the the hammer resting on a on a bullet okay um when you go in there where is the Charter Arms gun in my bucket okay so walk and then I backed out came and there Julie came at me from this direction for some reason and so I pull my gun out I was going to shoot her okay well let's let's first you walk into the room you've got your gun this is before you know you and Tom have a discussion okay um when you go into the room initially and you talk to Tom is your gun in your pocket yeah okay and what causes you to remove your gun from your pocket when I left the room started to leave from the room Julie come towards me and I pulled it out and I pulled the hammer back first and pulled it out and she grabbed for it and Tom came from this side and I uh backed up and I pulled the trigger and it broke the mirror and I don't know what it did and then thas was going to come at me again so I pulled turer again okay so you fired the gun twice M okay and when you fired the first round you said hit the mirror it I don't know I think it hit him but I'm not sure how the first round I'm not sure okay um the how about the second round I know the second round hit him okay where did it hit him I have no idea okay but I do know I killed him because I uh Julie was over by her bed by then and she had my gun my Charter Arms and but I had my 22 25 and um but um I been over before I went back to my room I been over and took his pulse and there was no puls so I knew I killed him when angry and powerlessness Collide it could give result to something darker loss of autonomy breeds resentment anger turns into desperation cognitive decline can heighten emotional Extremes in a moment of unchecked rage and despair she took an irreversible action after Anna's interrogation it was Julie's turn her son's girlfriend and the only other person in the house when the shooting happened and while Julie confirmed the most important detail that Anna pulled the trigger her version of events had some key differences so if you can just kind of just walk me through from the you know you guys getting ready and then walk me through just I don't want you to go super quick but you can probably maybe keep some manuary things uh we'll go over those things more in depth in a minute but if you can just kind of give me a quick version of what happened oh okay um I was up to this point and I was in the bedroom bedroom area and Anna came in and she said to Tom she says you know I don't like the way you treat me um and when that starts at all I just dismiss myself because I don't get involved in those conversations um anyway um so I went behind Ann and into my dressing area where the bathtub and everything is and you know of course the door closed so I really couldn't s came open so I was in there and I thought you know Tom asked me where are you going and I said I'm I'm going to go in the other room which just meant in there cuz I didn't want to get involved in the discussion at all so I painted my fingernails actually and I had time to get I just just had time to get to the last one when I heard I heard the shot and I I recognized it as a bullet shot and so I came out and I saw the Tom on the floor kind of like in and midway between the door and the wall um and it was evident I could see was it on his left side he was like I think it was on his left side was evident that he had been shot but I couldn't see either of them until I pulled that door back and that's when I saw her him on the floor her standing there with a gun and so I you know and I looked down and I saw Tom you know and I saw guess must have been on this side cuz he was on the floor but he was totally flat and then I ran um behind my bed to the other side by the window I ran behind that and and Ann has macular degeneration so she can't see real well and so what I did is I you know I got down and she had the gun up and so then every time I got my head up she like that she never shot at me though to to my knowledge is she saying anything at this point are you saying anything at this point I'm screaming and you'll hear it on the 911 call I was screaming hysterically an stop put your gun down and I got down you know but every time I put my head up she was standing there ready to shoot me and I said and get down no then I was on the floor and I was on with 911 the whole time and so I was watching her feet and I could see Tom then too okay so I'm on the floor on the other side of bed looking under the bed cuz I thought if she stays there 911 will come we'll be okay but if she starts come towards me what do I do you know it didn't occur to me but I'm looking under there and I did see her reach down and she did check his neck and it was on the where the gunshot was so it assume it was going to be a finger print or something I don't know then she just stood back up I got back up thinking okay you you know what are you going to do p the gun again towards me I got back down then I saw her lift right about here his right arm I'm looking under there up and then it dropped and then I just kept watching thinking and I was yelling to the I water please get the police here get down the door I don't care what you do she's going to kill me you know there's no doubt I was frightened that she was actually going to kill me to that gunpo pointed so then I saw she started walking towards me and I could see her feet under the bed so so I got you know stuck my head up a little bit and she had the gun down to her side I think she's right-handed anyway she had her her gun down to her side and I thought okay it's going to be all right I mean besides this you know and I I started to step towards her thinking I was going to be able to and she just you know she I got that gun away from her um it was a brown gun and I believe I I threw it so I think it landed somewhere over or near where I was or something but I threw it cuz we were right in front of the dresser there's a dresser in there so she we she made it all the way to the dresser by the time I and I'm like and no and she got in her pocket she pulled out another gun she had a second gun so she pulled out a second gun and that's what I was so close to her I didn't know what else to do but I've watched to many SUVs I grabbed just I grabbed on to her and I was yelling stop and stop and she kept trying to come down crying to come down and so then I finally I pushed her um I thought I'm just going to try to force her down you know as best I can she's strong for 92 let me tell you anyway so I pushed her down um and that's we fell when we fell down it was right in that um right next to Tom and just on the other side of him um and when I knocked her down she took the gun and she kept trying to do this and then she put it in my side and I got it out of my side and P it up again now here's the thing Anna already confessed she had no problem admitting she shot her son so what would stop her from telling the whole truth that's where things get interesting if both versions agree on the murder itself then the differences lie in the buildup and the aftermath the emotions the arguments and maybe even Anna's true intentions maybe Anna framed herself as more helpless than she really was maybe she left out key details that would have changed the way people saw her not just as an old woman acting out of desperation but someone who had already made up her mind long before she pulled the trigger you went into the bedroom to with the guns did you go in there with the intention to kill Tom not really but uh well not really can mean a lot of things so let let's when you when you went into the bedroom with the two guns did you go in there with in to kill Tom when I got thinking about the being put into a nursing home after all the promises he made me I guess maybe I did I don't know the whole thing is a big Haze I understand an but you have to help me understand what's going through your mind at that time so I don't really know what was going through my mind at that time okay but you said that you you I want to put words in your mouth so correct me if I'm wrong but you said you sort of went in there with the intent to to kill him well I don't know if I did or not okay why else would you go in there with the gun well I really I guess I was waiting to find out whether and about the being put in a nursing home and it just wasn't disgust I guess if a 92-year-old woman saw prison as a better alternative than an assisted living home that alone should be a wake-up call this case forces us to ask uncomfortable questions about how Society treats its aging population do we truly listen to them or do we simply make decisions for them and are we offering emotional and psychological support or just meeting their basic physical needs but uh uh what happened after that really isn't clear with me okay in any way shape or form did you go in there with the intent to kill uh Julie no so after you have shot the gun twice you said you don't know what happens to the gun but there's a point where you have a second gun I have old 25 I had old 25 where did where where did you have that second gun my other pocket in your other pocket and when when did you pull that gun out I don't remember okay do you remember what you did with that gun and and what I mean by that is do you remember if you pulled it out and just held it down by your side or did you pull it out and pointed at someone or something else um Julie was behind the bed and hollering at me and I pointed at the gun her and how do you know Tom's dead I been over before I left there and fell his pults there was none okay when you reached down and felt that he didn't have a pulse how' you feel I didn't have much of a feel I guess because you have no idea what he's put me through the last year and before that there was never a thing uh before Julie nothing happened I could not understand that didn't make sense to me okay when you felt that he was dead I mean did you feel like a sense of relief like it's finally over did you feel did you feel any remorse did you feel sad for what had happened I mean I don't I don't know how I felt I'll be honest with you I really don't know how I felt okay how do you feel right now about what happened I wish I'd stayed in Florida okay do you feel bad for what happened yes in the sense that um I killed my own son but um in another way look at it is he can't holler and scream at anybody else and cuz oh it could be mercifully you have no idea how loud his voice would get and how vicious he got after Julie and that he he's give Julie a lot of hours too do you feel bad about what what happened what you did to Julie what he did to do you feel bad about what you did to Julie in the sense that you pointed a gun in her Direction yeah kind of but she's part of the trying to get me into a nursing home too so I don't know that I do feel that bad because um well since since I've come from Florida between the two of them the promises that they that they've made to me it I was supposed to go out and get some new some summer shoes I was supposed to go out and get some blouses and they were going to take me out for to to to get some some more clothes because when I left Florida I wanted I was had planned on going up to shop for clothes before I left but uh there was they couldn't take me up because uh they didn't figure they had enough time to do that and P help finish the packing too I don't know where things have gone wrong with everything that's happened now that you've had a chance to look back what do you think should happen right now what do you think should happen next well I probably ought to be put to sleep and what do you mean by that done away with I'm no longer an good to society and um why do you feel that way what can I do for society I killed my son well Tom has talked to Steve from Arizona something or another and um Tom tried to tell me all the good points about it but what kind of good points are there to somebody who's always been independent and on their own and been promised that they'll never have to live in a home what are the good points would you say that that's part of why you felt your life was over because those things were going to be taken from you if you were going to be in a home yeah okay it's uh it's a sad day when your son don't want you anymore after it's promised over and over and over that I never have to live in a a nursing home and I I talked to him on the phone one day and uh before him and Julie came down everything was just we we could talk about anything I never never heard him uh uh be harsh with his words or anything um I really think he I don't I don't know anyway what was Weir discussing well and I'm going to take just a quick break many elderly individuals suffer in silence battling depression anxiety and fear but these emotions are often dismissed as just a part of aging yet as this case shows unaddressed emotions can Fester into something dangerous the reality is most elderly individuals will never resort to violence but the emotions that fueled this case are far more common than we'd like to admit if we don't address them we risk creating more tragedies not just in headlines but in the quiet suffering of millions of Aging individuals Anna was charged with first deegree murder aggravated assault and kidnapping but her casee never went to trial due to her age and mental state she was ruled incompetent to stand trial and passed away in 2020 thanks again for watching don't forget to like the video and if you want to support the channel even more there's a patreon link in the description below stay safe and I'll see you in the next video