Source: Marion County Sheriff’s Office / MCSO
Susan Lorincz, the white woman who fatally shot her Black neighbor Ajike Owens, received a sentence of 25 years in prison for the offense.
On Monday (Nov. 25), Susan Lorincz, a white woman from Ocala, Florida, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting her neighbor Ajike (A.J.) Owens. The incident where Owens, a Black woman, lost her life sparked waves of outrage across the nation and reignited the debate concerning Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” gun laws. Lorincz shot Owens in the chest through her locked front door last June after Owens (who was unarmed) confronted Lorincz over yelling at her children and throwing roller skates at them.
Owens’ family had sought a charge of second-degree murder initially, but prosecutors opted to charge Lorincz with manslaughter. Circuit Judge Robert Hodges informed the court that he had considered the defense’s testimony that the 60-year-old Lorincz was dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues along with her not having a criminal record. “I find the shooting was completely unnecessary,” he ruled, citing that Lorincz was safe in her home and law enforcement was on the way. “The shooting was based, I find, more in anger than in fear.”
Lorincz addressed the court after several others spoke in her defense at the sentencing including her sister who revealed that Lorincz suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their father which impacted her. “I am so sorry I took A.J.’s life. I never intended to kill her,” Lorincz said. “I could not understand why she was so angry.” Her voice breaking, she continued: “I so wish I could go back and change things so she was still here. I would trade my life.” Witnesses testified that Lorincz harassed other children in the neighborhood, with some citing her calling them racial slurs. Lorincz admitted to some of that behavior in interviews with detectives.
Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, stated that her 10-year-old grandson witnessed the fatal shooting in an interview with CBS This Morning. “I still can’t believe this happened,” Dias said at the time. “When does a person get shot for knocking on a door?” She was overcome with emotion during testimony over the loss of her daughter and how it impacted the four children left behind, saying she was “a mere shell of the person I once was.”
