Authorities and a family attorney in Florida reported that a mother of four was shot and died after a protracted dispute with a neighbour who had complained about the victim’s kids playing outside.
Sheriff Billy Woods of Marion County, Florida, stated during a news conference on Monday that when deputies responded to a trespassing report on Friday evening, they discovered one woman who had been shot.
Authorities named Ajike “AJ” Owens as the victim. She was 35 years old. According to the sheriff, the shooter, who was also a woman, “engaged” with Owens’ kids before throwing a pair of skates at them and hitting them. According to a sheriff’s office incident report, a witness informed officers there had been an argument over a child’s tablet computer before the gunman threw the skates at the kids.
After that encounter, one of the kids returned to their house and alerted their mother, who then went to the neighbour’s house “to confront the lady,” according to the sheriff.
The shooter said that there was “a lot of aggressiveness” on both sides and threats were exchanged before Owens was fatally shot through the door, according to Woods. witnesses reported to authorities
According to the event report, Owens walked to the shooter’s house and knocked on the door before being shot. Authorities reported that Owens was later declared dead at a hospital. The sheriff also stated that the person who fired at Owens was helping law enforcement. The case has not resulted in any arrests.
A family member of Owens said her son was next to her when she was killed. The shooter has not been arrested because detectives, along with the State Attorney’s Office, believe the shooting was done in possible self-defence, which is legal in Florida, Woods said.
Owens and the shooter were involved in numerous fights since January 2021, Woods said, with deputies called at least a half dozen times connected to the clash.
“I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands,” Woods said. “I wish Ms. Owens would have called us in the hopes we could have never gotten to the point at which we are here today.“There was a lot of aggressiveness from both of them, back and forth,” Wood said the shooter told investigators. “Whether it be banging on the doors, banging on the walls and threats being made. And then at that moment is when Ms. Owens was shot through the door.”
Woods noted Florida’s “stand your ground” law means he can’t arrest the woman unless he can prove the shooter didn’t act in self-defence.
While the shooter has been questioned by investigators, Owens’ children have not been interviewed yet by the sheriff’s office as child experts are expected to work with the grieving siblings.
Benjamin Crump, a well-known civil rights attorney who is representing the Owens family, alleged in a statement that the gunman hurled racial epithets toward the kids before Owens arrived at her home. All of Owens’ children are black. There may have been racial slurs used, although the police have not confirmed this. At a vigil for her daughter, Pamela Dias, the mother of Owens, expressed her desire for her family to receive justice.
“My daughter, my grandchildren’s mother, was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son standing next to her,” Dias said. “She had no weapon. She posed no imminent threat to anyone.”
In Monday’s news conference, authorities pleaded for calm and patience as they investigated the shooting, worked to recover possible video footage and interview the children who witnessed the incident. The sheriff also asked for anyone with information to come forward.
While responding to criticism about how long the investigation and a possible arrest is taking, the sheriff referenced the state’s “stand your ground” law. The law allows people to meet “force with force” if they believe they or someone else is in danger of being seriously harmed by an assailant.
“What a lot of people don’t understand is that law has specific instructions for us in law enforcement,” he said. “Any time that we think, or perceive or believe that that might come into play, we cannot make an arrest, the law specifically says that.”
“What we have to rule out is whether the deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest,” he said.
