White woman claims she fatally shot Black neighbor out of fear, while victim's mother says "she set out to kill"
A White woman in Florida told investigators she fired a shot through her door at a Black neighbor because she panicked as the other woman pounded heavily on her door and threatened her amid an ongoing dispute over the neighbor's children, according to a video statement played in court Wednesday.
The mother of the woman who was fatally shot disputed that, telling reporters at a news conference that the suspect, Susan Lorincz, was not in fear for her own life but was intent on harming Ajike "A.J." Owens on June 2, 2023, in Ocala, Florida.
Lorincz is on trial for manslaughter in the shooting.
"She set out to cause harm. She set out to kill. That's exactly what she did," said Owens' mother, Pamela Dias. "She has no regard for any form of human life. Certainly, not my family."
An all-White, six-person jury with two alternates was seated Monday to hear the evidence, according to the Marion County court clerk. The trial is expected to last all week.
In a recorded interview with Marion County detectives the day of the shooting, Lorincz insisted repeatedly she was in fear for her life as Owens — who weighed about 290 pounds, according to an autopsy — pounded on her door and yelled at her. The confrontation happened after Lorincz allegedly threw skates and an umbrella at Owens' children as they played outside. Lorincz denied throwing anything at the kids.
"Was your goal to shoot and kill her?" a detective asked Lorincz, CBS affiliate WKMG-TV reported.
"No," she replied.
"What was your goal?"
"To shoot and hopefully, you know, she'll hear the shot and dissipate," Lorincz said.
She said she fired a single shot with her .380-caliber handgun through the door, striking Owens in the chest. Lorincz said she could not see who was outside the door but was just trying to get Owens to "go away." Owens, 35, was not armed.
Jurors saw measurements from inside Lorincz's home, WKMG-TV reported. Prosecutors say those measurements prove Lorincz was not in her kitchen when she pulled the trigger.
"I was never intending to kill. I was shaking. I was just so distraught at that point in time," Lorincz said in the interview. "I felt like I was in mortal danger."
The shooting was the final act in a dispute between Owens, her children and Lorincz over their playing in a grassy area near both of their homes. In the video statement, Lorincz said she felt harassed by the children for most of the three years she had lived there.
"Every time they see me, they get together and scream and yell," Lorincz said, denying accusations that she used racial slurs against the children.
Lorincz, 60, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter. She said the frequent confrontations with Owens and her children led her to jam a chair against the door as protection at night.
State Attorney William Gladson has said his office contemplated filing a second-degree murder charge but that prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence that Lorincz had "hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent" toward Owens. Lorincz also was not charged immediately in the case, leading to protests at the courthouse.
Ocala is about 80 miles northwest of Orlando in central Florida.