Overview
- Patricia Blake was found in bed and pronounced dead at 7:58 a.m. Friday at a condo on the 2800 block of Ashley Drive West, investigators said.
- The medical examiner reported internal bleeding in the neck, a fresh fractured neck vertebra, facial discoloration and eye hemorrhaging consistent with strangulation or suffocation.
- Deputies reviewing body-camera footage noted a small red mark on the neck and, after obtaining a warrant, seized bedding, a pair of white calf-length socks and clothing that the daughter said she wore during the incident, according to the affidavit.
- Investigators say Martha Jo Blake, her mother’s caregiver, recounted prior talks about assisted death with a Maine physician who declined because the patient was not terminal; assisted suicide is illegal in Florida.
- Blake was arrested, booked and ordered held without bond after a pretrial detention ruling, with a public defender appointed, a no-contact order issued, and court dates set for Jan. 27 and Feb. 27.