Angelynn Mock will be eligible for parole after 25 years following her guilty plea in the 2025 death of Anita Avers.
WICHITA, Kan. — A former television news anchor was sentenced Monday to life in prison for killing her 80-year-old mother inside their Wichita home on Halloween 2025, bringing the criminal case to a close nearly a year after the fatal attack.
Angelynn Mock, 48, will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. She pleaded guilty in August to first-degree felony murder in the death of her mother, Anita Avers. Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Goering imposed the sentence Oct. 5. The punishment was expected under Kansas law following Mock’s plea.
The case began shortly before 8 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2025, when Wichita police were called to a home in the 1500 block of East Crowley. Officers found Mock outside the residence and discovered Avers unresponsive in her bed with multiple stab wounds. Emergency crews took Avers to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead later that morning. Mock was treated for injuries before being taken into custody.
The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office formally charged Mock with first-degree murder on Nov. 4, 2025, after reviewing the Wichita Police Department homicide investigation. Court records later described conflicting statements Mock gave investigators about what happened inside the home. She initially told police that she had acted to protect herself after a confrontation with her mother.
Investigators said the physical evidence and Mock’s accounts became central to the case. A probable cause affidavit said officers found several knives near Avers in the bedroom. The document also described statements in which Mock expressed delusional beliefs about her mother. Those statements became part of a broader court record concerning Mock’s mental health, but the criminal case ultimately proceeded after a judge determined she was competent.
The sentencing hearing also gave Avers’ relatives an opportunity to describe how her death affected the family. Her stepdaughter, Sonja Kreutziger, told the court that relatives had to return to the home after the killing and deal with the physical aftermath. She said the family could repair and clean the house but could not restore the home and relationships they had before Avers died.
Another family statement urged the court to impose the punishment allowed by law. Mock cried while listening to victim impact statements and declined to make a statement of her own before sentencing. A prosecutor asked Goering to follow the required sentencing provisions, describing the case as a tragic situation.
Goering sentenced Mock to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years and gave her credit for 339 days already served. The judge said she would not be able to use good-time credit to shorten the mandatory period before parole eligibility. Eligibility does not mean release is guaranteed after 25 years; it means the parole process can begin once the required minimum term has been served.
Mock had worked in television news years before the killing, including as a morning anchor and reporter in St. Louis. By the time of her arrest, she was no longer working in television news. The circumstances surrounding her former broadcasting career were not part of the charge for which she was sentenced.
The sentencing followed several major turns in the case. A judge found Mock incompetent to stand trial in January 2026 and ordered treatment aimed at restoring competency. In July, she was found competent to proceed. She then entered her guilty plea on Aug. 21, avoiding a trial and moving the case directly toward the mandatory life sentence imposed Monday.
At the end of the hearing, Mock indicated that she did not want to appeal. She will remain imprisoned under the life sentence and cannot be considered for parole until she has served the required 25-year minimum, subject to the credit recognized by the court.
Author note: Last updated October 6, 2026.