Angelynn Mock will become eligible for parole after serving 25 years for the Halloween 2025 killing of Anita Avers in Wichita.
WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas judge sentenced former television news anchor Angelynn Mock to life in prison Oct. 5 after she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2025 killing of her 80-year-old mother, Anita Avers.
Mock, 48, must serve at least 25 years before becoming eligible for parole, according to reporting from the sentencing and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. The sentence followed her guilty plea in August and brought the central criminal proceedings to a close nearly a year after Avers was killed at a south Wichita home on Halloween. Parole eligibility after 25 years does not guarantee Mock will be released.
The case began on Oct. 31, 2025, when Wichita police responded to a residence and found Avers suffering from multiple stab wounds. Authorities said she died from her injuries. Mock was taken into custody shortly afterward, and prosecutors formally charged her with first-degree murder on Nov. 4 after reviewing the Wichita Police Department homicide investigation.
A probable cause affidavit later provided investigators’ account of the events surrounding the killing. Published reports citing the document said Mock contacted emergency dispatchers after the stabbing and initially told authorities she believed she had acted to protect herself. Investigators found Avers in a bedroom. Mock’s later guilty plea meant the case did not proceed to a jury trial where the evidence and competing accounts would have been presented in full.
Questions about Mock’s mental competency became a major part of the court proceedings. According to the affidavit and local reporting, Mock’s stepfather told investigators she had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that the diagnosis was later changed to schizoaffective disorder. A court evaluation in January found Mock incompetent to stand trial, temporarily preventing the criminal case from moving forward.
Mock was sent to Larned State Hospital for competency evaluation and treatment. In July, a Sedgwick County District Court judge reversed the earlier finding and determined she was competent to proceed. Competency in a criminal case concerns whether a defendant can understand the proceedings and assist in a defense; it is separate from the question of criminal responsibility for the offense itself.
On Aug. 21, Mock appeared in Sedgwick County District Court and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Local court reporting said the plea carried a presumptive sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years. The plea eliminated the need for a trial and moved the case directly toward sentencing.
At the Oct. 5 hearing, the court imposed that life sentence. Family members also addressed the consequences of Avers’ death through victim impact statements, according to courtroom coverage. Relatives remembered Avers as a caring and compassionate person and described the loss the killing caused within the family. Mock became emotional during the hearing but did not make a lengthy public statement, according to reports from the courtroom.
Before the criminal case, Mock worked in local television news. She was an anchor and reporter at KTVI in St. Louis from 2011 to 2015 and had also worked in television journalism in Oklahoma City and other markets. She was no longer working as a television journalist at the time of the killing.
The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said when charges were filed that the case grew out of an investigation by the Wichita Police Department’s Homicide Section. The initial charge followed a review of that investigation by prosecutors. The office identified Avers as Mock’s mother and said the fatal stabbing occurred at a private Wichita residence.
Mock’s sentence requires her to remain imprisoned for at least 25 years before she can be considered for parole. Any future parole decision would be made through the applicable state process and would not be automatic. Her guilty plea and sentence end the trial and sentencing stages of the case.
Author note: Last updated October 11, 2026.