By Susan Lorincz, a 60-year-old white woman from Florida who fatally shot her Black neighbor through her front door during a dispute over children playing outside, faces sentencing Monday for manslaughter, with prosecutors seeking the maximum 30-year prison term.
Lorincz was convicted in August of killing Ajike “A.J.” Owens, 35, with a single shot from her .380-caliber handgun in June 2023, following a long-running dispute in their Ocala neighborhood about Owens’ children playing in a shared grassy area. The shooting occurred after Owens confronted Lorincz for allegedly throwing roller skates and an umbrella at her children, which Lorincz denied.
“While the pain of losing Ajike, we are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the court will give Susan Lorincz the maximum penalty for her actions,” said Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, in a statement. “Ajike’s legacy will live on through her children, and we will continue to fight for justice.”
An all-white jury rejected Lorincz’s self-defense claim despite her insistence in a videotaped police interview that she feared for her life when Owens was pounding on her door and yelling. “I thought I was in imminent danger,” Lorincz told detectives, claiming she had faced harassment during her three years in the neighborhood.
Defense attorney Amanda Sizemore has requested leniency, seeking a sentence below the 11.5-year minimum guideline, citing Lorincz’s mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor under “extreme durses” during the confrontation.
The case sparked protests in Ocala’s Black community when prosecutors initially took weeks to file manslaughter charges rather than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life sentence. The controversy highlighted racial tensions in Marion County, where Black residents comprise about 12 percent of the population.
The mother of four’s death added to ongoing national discussions about race relations and gun violence, particularly regarding conflicts between white residents and Black neighbors in their own communities.
