Insets, from left: Angelynn Mock (KTVI) and Anita Avers (Smith Family Funeral Home). Background: Mock after receiving a life sentence for murdering her mother, Avers, in Kansas (Law&Crime).
A former television news anchor will spend decades in prison after stabbing her 80-year-old mother to death in the victim’s bed at their Kansas home.
Angelynn Mock, 48, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years for the killing of Anita Avers in Wichita. Mock pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in August.
Avers’ stepdaughter, Sonja Kreutziger, told the court that the victim was a “bright, compassionate loving woman that wanted to make every moment a moment of beauty.”
“There used to be so much joy in my heart because of her,” Kreutziger said. “Shock, disbelief, horror, trauma struck us all last Halloween. The person I knew as gentle, kind Angie, did not just murder her mom. She ambushed Anita while Anita was in bed asleep. This was so out of character for the Angie we thought we knew. So devastating, so calculated, so demonic.”
Kreutziger said her stepmother suffered defensive wounds to her arms, indicating that she woke during the attack.
“She went to her death knowing that it was her daughter that slaughtered her,” Kreutziger said.
Relatives also described how Halloween, once a holiday the family celebrated happily, will now forever be linked to the killing.
“There will be no more dressing up or carving jack-o’-lanterns or handing out candy,” her niece said. “How do you celebrate the worst day of your life? One minute I’m competing in a costume contest, and the next, none of it matters. Walking around the store this time of year and seeing all the decor just reminds me of that day.”
Mock, who anchored mornings for KTVI, the Fox affiliate in St. Louis, from 2011 through 2015, cried during the sentencing hearing but did not speak to the court.
Police were called shortly before 8 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2025, to a home in the 1500 block of East Crowley. Officers found Mock outside, covered in blood. Inside, they discovered Avers unresponsive in her bed with “multiple stab wounds.” She was taken to a hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead.
According to a probable cause affidavit, blood was found throughout the house. Multiple knives and a cheese grater were reportedly lying on a pillow beside Avers’ body.
Mock told officers she had gone to speak with her mother about a possible job and found Avers sharpening knives in bed. She claimed her mother attacked her with a knife while saying, “I know you’re f—ing Jesus Christ,” according to the affidavit. Mock said she fought back before retrieving a knife herself.
“Angelynn said her mother ‘started spewing venom at me out of her f—ing mouth,’ so she had to stab her to save herself,” police wrote.
Detectives noted that Mock gave conflicting accounts about which woman initiated the attack. She eventually said she wanted to speak with an attorney, ending the interview. Mock had several lacerations on her hand and was treated at a hospital.
Investigators also interviewed Avers’ husband and Mock’s stepfather, who was working when the incident occurred. He described Mock’s mental health history, saying she had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition involving symptoms associated with schizophrenia and mood disorders. He said she had previously been hospitalized for mental health treatment and sometimes experienced delusions, including claims that “they’re all robots” and “they’re not real people,” according to the affidavit.
Mock’s stepfather told police that she had lost her anchor job at a local television station after an “explosive situation involving alcohol.” He characterized Mock’s relationship with her mother as “back-and-forth,” although the two remained close. To his knowledge, Mock was taking her prescribed medication.
He told investigators that the night before the stabbing appeared normal. His wife had been in bed when he left for work, he said.
While in custody, Mock was heard referring to her mother as the devil in several statements made to herself.
“I’d kill that b— to have my mom back any day,” she allegedly said. “I don’t even know who she is anymore. I know, I believe she is the devil.”
Local ABC affiliate KAKE obtained audio of 911 dispatchers saying Mock claimed self-defense.
“Calling party stabbed the mother to save herself,” dispatchers reportedly said.
KAKE spoke with a neighbor who said Mock came running up to her and her boyfriend when they were in their car.
“There was a woman who approached our vehicle with like blood, like her hands were filled, her body was filled with blood, asking to call 911,” Alyssa Castro told the TV station.
Mock begged Castro’s boyfriend for his phone to call 911. When he gave it to her, she ran back into the home, Castro said.
“I asked her if she was OK, and she was pretty shaken up and she seemed scared, and she just ran off,” Castro said.
The defendant has had competency issues since her arrest.
Judge Jeff Goering deemed Mock incompetent to proceed to trial in January and ordered that Mock be hospitalized for restoration of competency. Based on a doctor’s most recent report, Goering in July declared Mock competent to proceed with the case.
Avers was a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist with some 20 years of experience, according to Wichita Counseling Professionals.
“She specializes in treating adults experiencing depression, anxiety spectrum disorders, trauma, and mood disorders, as well as relationship issues, including couples and marriages, family conflict, infidelity and divorce,” her biography said.
