Jury convicts White Florida woman in shooting death of her Black neighbor during ongoing dispute
A White Florida woman was convicted Friday of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbor amid an ongoing dispute about children playing loudly outside her home.
An all-White jury in Ocala, Florida, found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation. Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing.
Lorincz had claimed self-defense when she fired a single shot with a .380-caliber handgun through her front door on June 2, 2023, killing 35-year-old Ajike "A.J." Owens. Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life as Owens yelled and pounded on her door.
"I panicked and I thought, 'Oh my God, she's really going to kill me this time,' you know," Lorincz told Marion County Sheriff's investigators. "And so I don't even actually remember picking up the gun, I just remember shooting."
The confrontation came amid a dispute between Lorincz and Owens over the latter's children playing in a grassy area near both of their houses. Lorincz said in the interview she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.
The victim's family members broke down in tears after Lorincz left the courtroom with deputies. She showed no reaction or emotion when the verdict was announced.
Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges did not immediately set a sentencing date but ordered a background report to be done on Lorincz.
Anthony Thomas, an attorney for the Owens family, said they would push for the maximum 30-year prison term.
"It's a good step in the right direction," Thomas told reporters after the verdict. "The jury did their job today. Now it's up to Judge Hodges to do his job in handing down the best sentence he can, which is the maximum penalty."
Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, said she took some solace from the guilty verdict.
"We've achieved some justice for Ajike. My heart is a little lighter," Dias told reporters outside the courthouse. "This has been a long journey to get to this stage, to get to this verdict. I find some peace with that verdict."
State Attorney William Gladson, whose office prosecuted the case, said it was "a tragic reminder" of the consequences of gun violence.
"The defendant's choices have left four young children without their mother, a loss that will be felt for the rest of their lives," Gladson said in a statement. "While today's verdict can't bring A.J. back, we hope it brings some measure of justice and peace to her family and friends."
Attorney Ben Crump released a statement following the verdict, saying: "We are profoundly grateful that the jury has delivered a guilty verdict in this heartbreaking case. AJ Owens was a devoted mother whose life was tragically cut short, leaving her children, including a young son who witnessed this horrific act, to carry the burden of her loss. This verdict is a critical step in securing justice for AJ and her family. While nothing can erase the pain they've endured, today's decision sends a clear message that senseless violence will be met with accountability."
During closing arguments, prosecutor Rich Buxman had said there was no evidence that Owens posed an imminent physical threat to Lorincz but came to the defendant's house after her children complained Lorincz had allegedly thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them amid a long-running annoyance at their boisterous play outside.
"It's not a crime to bang on somebody's door. It's not a crime to yell," Buxman told jurors. "There was no imminent danger whatsoever when she fired that gun."
A lawyer for Lorincz countered that she was frightened by Owens' aggressive actions and was legally justified in firing her gun under Florida's "stand your ground" law. An autopsy found Owens weighed about 290 pounds, making her much larger as well as younger than Lorincz, and the two had previous confrontations.
"She can defend herself," said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. "She had a split second to make a decision whether or not to fire her weapon."
Lorincz did not testify in her own defense but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in one 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, "I'm just sick of these children."
"She was not in fear. She was angry," Buxman said.
Owens' family has expressed surprise that no Black jurors were selected for the trial given the racially sensitive nature of the case. There were protests in the Black community when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder which carries a potential life prison sentence.
The county court clerk's office said in an email that eight Black people were among the 70 in the initial jury pool. In contrast, 49 were white and 10 were listed as Hispanic, two as Asian and one as "other," the clerk's office said, based on records provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Ocala is about 80 miles northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County's Black population is about 12%, according to census figures.