Carrabelle man gets 25 years for killing his mother-in-law

PORT ST. JOE — A Carrabelle man pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for killing his mother-in-law last year.

Donnie Mock, 31, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and to being a felon in possession of a gun. He was sentenced to 25 years for the murder and 15 for the gun charge and will serve those sentences concurrently.

At the sentencing, Circuit Judge Elijah Smiley tried to confirm that Mock understood what was going on and that he had spent enough time with his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Walter Smith. Mock said he understood but did not believe he had spent enough time with Smith. However, when questioned about whether he wanted to postpone the plea and the sentencing, Mock said no.

“I don’t see any use,” he added.

Investigators say that on Aug. 28, 2009, Mock, his wife, Gynne, and her mother, 58-year-old Robyn Curtiss, had been involved in a domestic disturbance. The incident ended with Curtiss telling Donnie Mock to leave the home they shared at 229 Osceola St., officials wrote in a news release.

Sheriff's investigators said the argument continued throughout the day by phone and that Donnie Mock returned shortly before 7 p.m. But first, he stopped at his parents’ home in Honeyville to get his father’s gun, sticking it in his waistband, an investigator told The News Herald last year.

When he knocked on Curtiss’ door, Gynne Mock answered, authorities reported. The couple “exchanged words” before she noticed the gun at his hip. When she made a comment about it, Donnie Mock cursed at her, officials reported.

“A further confrontation occurred” before Mock fired the shot that killed Curtiss, the arrest report said. Curtiss was struck in the neck, the report added.

Mock fled the area as his wife called 911. He was arrested several hours later and confessed to the killing.