Former news anchor gets life in prison for stabbing her mother to death on Halloween

Alabama Life & CultureShe told police she believed her mother was the devil. Getty ImagesBy Brian Linder | blinder@pennlive.comA Kansas woman who once worked as a television news anchor has been sentenced to life in prison for the killing of her elderly mother.Angelynn “Angie” Mock received the life sentence after pleading guilty to the Oct. 31, 2025, stabbing death of her mother, 80-year-old Anita Avers. She will be eligible for parole after 25 years.Mock previously worked at KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City from 2007 through 2011 and later spent four years, from 2011 to 2015, at Fox 2 KTVI in St. Louis.TV Insider reported that officers responding to the Wichita home shared by Mock and Avers on Halloween morning discovered Avers suffering from multiple stab wounds.Police said Mock told investigators she believed her mother was the “devil.” According to authorities, Mock said she went into her mother’s room to discuss a job opportunity and encountered her sharpening knives.Investigators said Mock first claimed that Avers came toward her with a knife.“I had to kill her, she wasn’t going to stop,” Mock told police, according to authorities.The case also included information provided by Mock’s stepfather, Barry Avers. TV Insider reported that he told police Mock had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and experienced delusions. Police said Barry Avers reported that Mock would sometimes believe the people around her were “not real.”He also told investigators that, despite those struggles, Mock had no history of violent behavior before the attack that killed her mother.Mock was originally deemed not mentally competent for trial in January. But in July, a judge deemed her competent, and the trial moved forward with her pleading guilty to first-degree murder.Brian Linder is the trending editor at PennLive.com. He has more than 20 years of experience working for newspapers first in South Carolina, then Daytona Beach, Florida and now in Pennsylvania. Linder spent...