The white woman accused of shooting and killing a black mother-of-four over a dispute involving the deceased woman’s children has been arrested and charged four days after the incident.
According to a statement issued by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office early on Wednesday morning, Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, was charged on Tuesday, June 6, with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault.
‘The justice we have all been seeking has been served,’ Sheriff Billy Woods said in a video posted Tuesday.
It follows public pressure on police to take action over the killing after authorities first said they had to take time to determine what role Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law might play in the incident.
Lorincz, who is white, is accused of fatally shooting Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens through a closed door in Ocala on Friday night.
It’s alleged that Lorincz threw a roller skate at one of Ms Owens’ children and swung an umbrella at another during a heated exchange before they went to tell their mother.
Ms. Owens reportedly then went across the street to speak with the neighbour after hearing of the incident, at which point Lorincz is accused of firing through her door, shooting the mother-of-four. Ms Owens later died at a hospital from her injuries.
Police said that through their investigation and eyewitness testimony, they were able to establish that ‘Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law.’
Under Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law, people are essentially permitted to use deadly force if they feel their lives are in danger.
‘Any time that we think or perceive or believe that [the ‘stand your ground’ law] might come into play, we cannot make an arrest. The law specifically says that,’ Sheriff Billy Woods said at a press conference on Monday.
‘And what we have to rule out is whether this deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest.’
Woods acknowledged that Owen’s children were engaged in a dispute with the neighbor prior to the shooting regarding them being on her lawn. He said officers have responded half-a-dozen times to complaints about the ongoing feud since January 2021.
Tru News Report previously mentioned the shooter, then speculated to be 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.”
