WICHITA, Kan. (Court TV) — A judge ruled a former news anchor is competent to proceed to trial for allegedly stabbing her 80-year-old mother to death in her bed, months after determining she was incompetent and sending her to a hospital for treatment.
Angelynn Mock, 48, faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Anita Avers in Wichita, police said in a press release.
Angelynn Mock, a former news anchor is accused of killing her elderly mother on Halloween in Wichita. Mock was arrested Friday following the fatal attack on her mother, 80-year-old Anita Avers. (Court TV)
Judge Jeff Goering deemed Mock incompetent to proceed to trial in January and ordered Mock be hospitalized for restoration of competency. Based on a doctor’s most recent report, Goering on Thursday declared Mock competent to proceed with the case. Mock’s next court date is set for Aug. 11. She remains at the Sedgwick County Jail.
Cops responded shortly before 8 a.m. Oct. 31 to a home in the 1500 block of East Crowley. Mock, covered in blood, was standing outside the home when officers arrived. When they went into the home, they found Avers unresponsive in her bed with “multiple stab wounds.” She was taken to the hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead.
A probable cause arrest affidavit said there was blood throughout the home. Several knives and a cheese grater were on a pillow next to the victim’s body.
Mock told cops she was going to speak to her about a potential job. Her mom was sharpening knives in her bed, Mock said. The defendant said her mother came at her with a knife, saying “I know you’re f—ing Jesus Christ,” according to the affidavit. Mock claimed she fought her mother off and went to grab a knife of her own.
“Angelynn said her mother, ‘started spewing venom at me out of her f—ing mouth,’ so she had to stab her to save herself,” cops wrote.
The defendant was inconsistent with her story about who attacked whom first, detectives noted. She told investigators she wanted to speak to an attorney, so the interview concluded. She had several lacerations on her hand and was treated at a hospital.
Investigators spoke with Avers’ husband and Mock’s stepfather, who was at work at the time of the incident. He detailed Mock’s mental health struggles, saying she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which exhibits schizophrenia and mood disorder symptoms. She had previously spent time in a mental hospital, he said. Mock also would sometimes be in a delusional state, saying “they’re all robots” and “they’re not real people,” per the affidavit.
Mock’s stepdad told police she lost her job at a local news station where she was an anchor after an “explosive situation involving alcohol.” He described Mock’s relationship with her mother as “back-and-forth,” but the two were close. The defendant was taking her medication, as far as he knew.
The stepdad recounted the night before the slaying, saying there was nothing out of the ordinary. He said his wife was in bed when he left for work.
While in custody, Mock apparently made several statements while talking to herself, calling her mom the devil.
“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 from 911 dispatchers that said 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.
According to local CBS affiliate KMOV, Mock was a former morning anchor for KTVI, the Fox station in St. Louis, from 2011 to 2015.
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.
