OCALA, Fla. − In a case that has become the nation’s latest flashpoint on race and gun violence, who they say shot through her front door and killed a Black mother of four after a long-running neighborhood feud.
Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, faces a charge of manslaughter with a firearm, two counts of assault and other charges in the death of 35-year-old Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens , according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
The case put intense new focus on Florida’s “stand your ground” law . On Monday, before the arrest, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said the fatal shooting had happened after a 2½-year dispute. At the time, he did not identify the suspect, saying Florida law restricted his office from making an arrest before being sure a shooter had no alternative to the use of deadly force.
The case rocketed into national headlines, and protesters marched in Ocala on Tuesday afternoon, calling on State Attorney Bill Gladson to file charges and demanding justice for Owens.
Lorincz was interviewed by detectives on Tuesday evening before being taken into custody. Woods, the sheriff, said she claimed she shot in self-defense because Owens was trying to break down her door during a dispute involving Owen’s children. She claimed Owens had attacked her in the past.
The sheriff’s office said its investigation – including obtaining the statements of eyewitnesses – determined the shooting was not justifiable.
“Ms. Lorincz’s fate is now in the hands of the judicial system, which I trust will deliver justice in due course,” Woods said in a statement late Tuesday. “As I go to bed tonight, I will be saying a prayer for Ms. Owens’ children and the rest of her family. I’d ask all of you to do the same.”
In a sign of the case’s national profile, civil rights attorney Ben Crump – who represented Trayvon Martin’s family in 2012, when the Black teenager was killed in another Florida shooting that hinged on the “stand your ground” law – took up representation of Owens’ family.
Shortly after the arrest, Crump and personal injury attorney Anthony D. Thomas called for the eradication of “laws like Stand Your Ground that only contribute to the lawlessness of our country and the disproportionate maiming and killing of people of color.” “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,” their statement said.
Case sparks protests, ‘stand your ground’ criticism
