A white woman who allegedly shot and killed Ajike “AJ” Owens, her Black neighbor, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter with a firearm and other offenses, CBS News reported.
Owens was killed June 2 in Ocala, FL after she allegedly went to the home of Susan Lorincz, 58, to confront the woman about a conversation that took place with her children.
Lorincz was upset that Owens’ children were playing outside, close to her apartment. A neighbor overheard the accused yelling at one of the kids
, and according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Lorincz threw a roller skate at Owens’ 10-year-old son, hitting his toe.After the child told his mother what had happened, Owens went over with him, knocked on the door several times, and demanded that Lorincz come outside. Lorincz then fired one shot through the door, striking Owens in the upper chest.
“At the time she was shot, Owens’ 10-year-old son was standing beside her,” the sheriff’s office said.
Since the shooting, Lorincz has been charged with manslaughter and other offenses. She claims she acted in self-defense, saying Owens was trying to break her door down.
In the state of Florida, the “stand your ground” law, which became notorious during George Zimmerman’s trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, allows people to meet force with force if they believe they or someone else is in danger of being seriously harmed
, CNN reported.Officials are unsure if this was the case with Lorincz.
“What we have to rule out is whether the deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest,” Sheriff Billy Woods said. “I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands.”
The shooting was the final straw
of a two-and-a-half-year feud between the neighbors. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented Trayvon Martin’s family and now the Owens, said in a statement that the shooter had been yelling racial slurs at the children before the confrontation.Owens’ family described the single mother of four as someone who was “full of life, loved her children with all her being” and helped those around her in any way she could.