A Florida woman has been arrested in connection to the fatal shooting of her neighbor in what the Marion County Sheriff’s Office described as the violent climax of a two 1/2-year-long feud.
Susan Lorincz, 58, a white woman, was arrested and charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault in the death of Ajike Owens, a Black mother of four.
Lorincz is accused of firing a gun through a closed door in Ocala on Friday night, killing Owens.
Calls for an arrest were made by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Owens family, along with others. They have also raised concerns regarding race and Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law.
“While we are relieved that the woman apparently responsible for the tragic killing of Ajike’ AJ’ Owens has been arrested, we are no less concerned that accountability has taken this long because archaic laws like Stand Your Ground exist,” attorneys for Owens’ family, including Crump, said in a statement Tuesday night.
Per the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began when Lorincz became agitated about Owens’ children playing in a field near her residence and “engaged in an argument” with the children. The woman then threw an object at one of the kids, hitting him in the foot. Subsequently, according to the sheriff’s account, two of the children approached Lorincz’s door, which she opened and swung at them using an umbrella. The children then told their mother, who proceeded to Lorincz’s door and knocked repeatedly, demanding she come outside. According to officials, it was during this exchange that Lorincz discharged a single round through the door, which struck Owens in the upper chest.
Lorincz told investigators that she acted in self-defense and that Owens was trying to break down her door. However, after an investigation, Sheriff Billy Woods said that “detectives were able to establish that Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law,” a release from MCSO stated.
“It was simply a killing,” he said.
