Police claim that a 64-year-old Minnesota woman heard her “digging graves” in the basement and believed the victim was “murdering and raping” people, so she said a prayer before shooting her neighbor.
Ava Leone Kock, 64, is charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and second-degree attempted murder.
A probable cause arrest affidavit states that Winona County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a shooting in Elba, a small town in southeast Minnesota, at approximately 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
According to a witness, the victim called his cell phone and asked him to come outside while he was playing video games at home.
The witness noticed the victim slouched beneath the dashboard of the car when he approached it. In addition, he saw multiple bullet holes in the driver’s side door and windshield.
According to the victim, she was shot at when she parked her Jeep in a lot. According to police, bullet fragments entered her brain after striking her eye. Detectives found that her Jeep had been hit by bullets seven times. Later, police discovered that Kock resided in a nearby apartment.
Upon speaking with Kock, deputies reported that he was “very cooperative.” She did not go outside to investigate the noises she claimed to have heard.
According to the affidavit, police observed seven holes in the bathroom screen that were about the same size as the car’s bullet holes. When Kock moved into the apartment approximately a year ago, she reportedly claimed that the holes were present.
On Wednesday, Kock called 911 and told dispatchers she tried to contact the FBI and wanted to talk to local cops about “possible homicides” that were occurring in the area, according to police. She allegedly claimed that the victim and witness were already residing in a nearby apartment when she moved into her own.
“Defendant told Deputies she believed Witness and Victim were murdering and raping people,” the investigators wrote. She said she thinks he has people and children buried in the basement of their apartment because she has heard them digging graves there.
The defendant claimed that because the legal system had done nothing to stop the criminal behavior of the victim and witness, she had to step in.
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Kock said she “didn’t want to hear them anymore,” so she grabbed her son’s rifle and shot at the victim’s Jeep as she was pulling into the parking lot, the affidavit stated. “Guide my bullets like you guided David’s rock” is the alleged prayer she uttered before firing, and she fired seven times because the number is mentioned multiple times in the Bible.
After pulling the trigger, Kock told deputies she felt “at peace” and said she “didn’t care” the victim was injured, per the affidavit.
She allegedly hid the rifle behind her stove and put the shell casings in a potted plant in her living room. After obtaining a search warrant, cops allegedly recovered the gun and shell casings.
While they were investigating, the owner of a business next door to Kock’s apartment told deputies Kock came into the business about a month ago and said the victim and witness were being “very loud,” according to the complaint.
Kock allegedly said she thought the witness may be assaulting the victim and Kock was going to figure out a way to “take out” the witness.
Deputies arrested Kock and took her to the Winona County Jail where she remains on a $500,000 bond.
On Friday, a judge ordered Kock to undergo an evaluation to determine if she competent enough to go forward with the criminal case. Her next court date is scheduled for Thursday.
