Ex-Fox Anchor Gets Life in Prison at 48

A former television news anchor has been sentenced to life in prison after admitting to killing her 80-year-old mother inside a Kansas home. Angelynn Mock, 48, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Anita Avers. Avers was discovered critically injured in her Wichita bedroom on Halloween 2025 after suffering multiple stab wounds.

Mock told authorities she killed 80-year-old Anita Avers believing her mother was the devil. She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving 25 years. The sentencing brought an end to a disturbing case involving a woman who previously appeared on television as a local news anchor in several major markets. During the hearing, Avers’ stepdaughter, Sonja Kreutziger, described the killing as completely at odds with the person her family believed Mock to be.

“The person I knew as gentle, kind Angie did not just murder her mom; she ambushed Anita while Anita was in bed asleep,” Kreutziger said. “This was so out of character for the Ange we thought we knew, so devastating, so calculated, so demonic.”

Police responding to the home found Avers unresponsive in her bedroom.

Court records indicated that several kitchen utensils, including knives and a cheese grater, were discovered nearby. Investigators said the objects appeared to have blood on them. Mock contacted 911 and initially claimed she had been defending herself.

According to court documents, she told a dispatcher that “her mother tried to kill her, so she stabbed her in return.” When officers arrived, Mock was reportedly outside the residence holding a towel around her blood-covered hands.

Avers was transported to a hospital but later died from her injuries. Mock offered investigators an unusual account of what happened before the stabbing. She claimed she entered her mother’s room and saw Avers “sharpening knives.”

Mock alleged that her mother then “came after her with a knife and fought her,” according to court records. She also claimed her mother told her, “I know you’re f***ing Jesus Christ.”

Mock told investigators she initially backed away before obtaining a knife herself and said she eventually “got on top of her.” In another statement contained in court records, Mock said she stabbed her mother because she “started spewing venom at me out of her f***ing mouth.”

Authorities said Mock later explained that she had gone into the bedroom to discuss an upcoming employment opportunity. According to the affidavit, Mock referred to an “upcoming job interview with KSN because she was a news anchor.”

KSN is the NBC affiliate serving the Wichita area. Mock had previously worked in television journalism, including as an anchor at KTVI Fox 2 in St. Louis between 2011 and 2015. She also previously worked at KOKH Fox 25 in Oklahoma City.

Her stepfather, Barry Avers, reportedly told investigators that Mock’s time at the St. Louis station ended following what authorities described as “an explosive situation involving alcohol.”

By the time of the killing, Mock was reportedly no longer working in television and was employed in sales for a data-management software company.

Questions about her mental competency were also raised before the criminal case moved forward. Mock underwent a competency evaluation, and a judge ultimately ruled in July that she was competent to stand trial. She later entered the guilty plea rather than proceeding to trial.

At sentencing, Mock reportedly spoke only briefly. She told the judge that she did not intend to appeal the sentence. The case marks a dramatic fall for a former local television personality whose career once placed her in front of audiences in multiple cities.

Mock will now remain in prison for at least 25 years before becoming eligible for parole.