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A Florida woman has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a 35-year-old Black mother of four through a front door as the victim’s 10-year-old son stood beside her in what authorities say was the culmination of a years-long feud between the neighbors.
Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, was arrested Tuesday on charges of manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault for the death of Ajike "AJ" Owens in Ocala, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said in a statement.
Lorincz had claimed the shooting was in self-defense under Florida’s "Stand Your Ground" law, authorities said, but Woods said that an investigation revealed that the law did not apply in this case.
"This situation is a prime example of when it was not justified. It was simply a killing," the sheriff said.
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Susan Lorincz, 58, was arrested Tuesday on charges of manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault in the death of Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, authorities said. (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
The shooting unfolded Friday night after Lorincz, who is White, confronted Owens’ children who were playing in field near her home, according to authorities.
Ajike "AJ" Shantrell Owens was fatally shot during an encounter with her neighbor on Friday night, authorities said. (Family handout via FOX35 Orlando WOFL)
Lorincz became angry and was overheard arguing with the children, yelling and throwing a roller skate at Owens’ 10-year-old son, striking him in a toe, the sheriff’s office said. When the boy and his 12-year-old brother went to speak with Lorincz, she allegedly opened her door and swung an umbrella at the children.
When the boys told their mother what transpired, officials said that Owens went to Lorincz’s home with the 10-year-old and knocked on the front door multiple times and demanded Lorincz come outside.
Lorincz then fired one shot through the front door, hitting Owens in her upper chest, with Owens' 10-year-old son was standing beside her as she was shot, the sheriff’s office said.
A patched bullet hole, upper right, is seen on a door where Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, was shot and killed on Friday night. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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Deputies responded to a call of trespassing and found Owens laying on the ground with a gunshot wound. Owens was rushed to a hospital, where she died.
Lorincz allegedly claimed that she fired the shot because Owens was trying to bust down her front door and had attacked her in the past, but after an investigation and interviews with eyewitnesses, the sheriff’s office determined that Lorincz’s actions were not justified.
Officials say Susan Lorincz, 58, claimed the shooting was in self-defense under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said an investigation revealed the shooting was not justified and was "simply a killing." (Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
Earlier in the investigation, Woods provided some details on what he described as a longstanding "neighborhood feud" between Lorincz and Owens. The sheriff said that since January 2021, deputies responded to at least a half-dozen calls involving the women.
In two such calls from February 2022 and April 2023, Lorincz complained that Owens’ dog was on her property and that Owens had opened her mailbox multiple times, though no mail was missing, FOX35 Orlando reported.
At a vigil Monday, Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said that she was seeking justice for her daughter and her grandchildren.
Ajike Owens was fatally shot outside her neighbor's front door as her 10-year-old son stood beside her, authorities said. (Family handout via FOX35 Orlando WOFL)
"She had no weapon," Dias said. "She posed no imminent threat to anyone."
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump was retained by Owens’ family and released a statement that said the neighbor, described as a 58-year-old White woman, reportedly shouted at the children to "get off her land" and yelled racial slurs.
While the sheriff’s office did not immediately confirm whether Lorincz yelled racial slurs at the children, a neighbor told The Associated Press that Lorincz had been hostile to the kids.
"She was angry all the time that the children were playing out there," 40-year-old neighbor Lauren Smith said. "She would say nasty things to them. Just nasty."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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