'I Had To Kill Her': Former TV Anchor Pleads Guilty To Stabbing Mum in Bizarre Cheese Grater Murder

Former television news anchor Angelynn 'Angie' Mock has pleaded guilty to murdering her 80-year-old mother, Anita Avers, in Wichita, Kansas, on Halloween last year.

Mock, 48, entered the plea to one count of first-degree murder on Friday, 21 August, in Sedgwick County District Court.

Prosecutors said the agreement carries a presumptive sentence of life in prison, with eligibility for parole after 25 years. Sentencing is scheduled for 5 October at 11am before District Court Judge Faith Johnson.

The case drew attention after investigators said Mock gave conflicting accounts and appeared to believe her mother was the devil.

How a Family Killing Became the 'Cheese Grater Murder'

The news came after months of court filings and psychological assessments that laid out a disturbing picture of what officers found at the scene.

A probable cause affidavit previously obtained by PEOPLE stated that an officer found several kitchen-style knives and a cheese grater laid out on a pillow next to Avers on the bed.

Investigators said Mock gave conflicting accounts of what happened before the stabbing. In one version, set out in the affidavit, she claimed she walked into her mother's bedroom and found sharpened knives on the bed, then said Avers followed her with a knife and tried to fight her.

Mock told detectives she stabbed her mother to 'save herself', according to that document. In another account described in the same affidavit, Mock said she had been telling Avers about an upcoming job interview when her mother began sharpening knives and said she was jealous of her.

At one point, Mock allegedly told investigators, 'I had to kill her, she wasn't going to stop.' The affidavit also noted that Mock spoke to herself after the killing and made statements indicating she believed her mother was the devil.

Mental Health Struggles Before the Cheese Grater Murder Plea

Questions about Mock's mental state have shadowed the prosecution from the start. Her stepfather told investigators she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later with schizoaffective disorder, according to the affidavit cited in earlier coverage. He also told local station KAKE-TV that she suffered from delusions and depression.

A judge ruled Mock incompetent to stand trial in January after a court ordered an evaluation and ordered her to Larned State Hospital for further assessment and treatment. She remained there for several months.

In July, after additional evaluation, the court found her competent to stand trial, clearing the way for the case to move forward again in Sedgwick County District Court.

The District Attorney's Office confirmed in a written announcement that Mock pleaded guilty to Count 1, first-degree murder, classified under Kansas law as an off-grid person felony.

Prosecutors said the charge carries a statutory presumptive sentence of life imprisonment with eligibility for parole after 25 years, as set out in K.S.A. 21 6620. District Attorney Marc Bennett and Deputy District Attorney Shannon Wilson led the prosecution.

From Anchor Desk to Kansas Murder Defendant

Mock was not an unknown figure in regional broadcasting. According to station reports and her own professional history, she worked as a morning anchor at St Louis station KTVI Fox 2 from 2011 to 2015.

Before that, she anchored mornings at KOKH TV in Oklahoma City from 2007 to 2011 and held earlier reporting roles in Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office has not suggested that Mock's previous work in television played any role in the killing. Nor have prosecutors alleged any complex financial or inheritance motive, at least in public filings to date.

Instead, the documents that are available focus on her shifting explanations, her reported belief that Avers was the devil and the clinical findings that initially led a judge to rule her unfit for trial.

Wichita police were called out on Halloween morning to the private residence Mock shared with Avers and her stepfather. Officers arrived at around 7.50 am to find Mock outside the home with cuts on her hands, according to the Wichita Police Department.

Inside, they discovered Avers suffering from multiple stab wounds. She was taken to the hospital but later died from her injuries, authorities said in earlier releases.

Mock was taken into custody shortly afterwards. The Wichita Police Department has not released further details about the investigation since the District Attorney's announcement of the plea.

There is no indication in the official material that any other suspect is being sought in connection with Avers's death.

For now, the legal process narrows to a single courtroom, a former anchor turned convicted killer, and a judge weighing up what justice should look like for an 80-year-old mother stabbed to death in her own bedroom, knives and a cheese grater laid out on the pillow beside her.