Opening statements before an all-white jury on Aug. 13 began a trial for the accused shooter of Black Florida mother Ajike “AJ” Owens, who was allegedly killed in front of her son by her white neighbor Susan Lorincz after a dispute about her children on June 2, 2023.
According to ABC News, assistant State Attorney Adam Smith told jurors on Tuesday that the 59-year-old woman shot at the unarmed Black mother through her locked front door after she went to confront the woman about her interaction with her children, who were playing near her residence. As previously covered by BLACK ENTERPRISE
, Lorincz was charged last year with multiple charges, including first-degree felony manslaughter, after she admitted to killing the mother of four who lived across the street from her apartment complex in Ocala.“It was either Susan or AJ,” public defender Morris Carranza stated in his opening remarks for the trial, arguing that Lorincz “felt she had no choice” and “chose to defend herself.” Carranza further claimed Owens threatened to “kill” Lorincz and attempted to “break down” her door. However, Smith disputed the claim and told jurors that witnesses of the confrontation would also deny the alleged actions of Owens. “After the evidence is presented, we’re going to come back to you and ask that you find the defendant guilty,” Smith said.
Although family attorneys Anthony Thomas and Ben Crump oppose the selection of an all-white jury to determine the final outcome, Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said, “I am keeping faith that justice will be served for my daughter, Ajike, that the jurors will not let Susan Lorincz get away with this.” BE
noted in 2023 that the family asserted their desires for Lorincz’s actions to be considered a hate crime and for her manslaughter charge to be upgraded to murder. According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Lorincz faces up to a 30-year prison sentence if convicted, a number Dias stated is “not sufficient because this is a lifetime of trauma that these children are going to have to deal with.”This week, two of Owens’ four children, Isaac, 13, and Israel, 10, will be called to testify. “They understand the gravity of this moment and want to ensure that their mother’s death is not in vain,” Thomas said.
According to presiding judge Robert W. Hodges of the Florida 5th Judicial Circuit, the trial is expected to close by Friday.