A white woman in Florida was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Monday To fatally shoot your neighborA black mother of four, in a case that sparked outrage over gun violence and racism and drew another national condemnation.
A jury convicted susan lorinz60, for murder in August murder of ajike owens Outside his home in Ocala on June 2, 2023. Owens, who went by the name AJ, was 35 years old. Ocala is a small city located about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.
Lorincz faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the charges originally brought against him after the shootings — one count of murder and one count of assault with a firearm — said Bill Gladson, state attorney for Florida's Fifth Judicial District. announced Later in June of that year. In Florida, the chief prosecutor in each district is called the state attorney.
On Monday, Judge Robert Hodges said Lorincz had enough time to call law enforcement and there was no real risk that Owens was trying to break into her home. “I think the shooting was based more on anger than fear,” Hodges said before sentencing.
The officers involved and prosecutors came under scrutiny after Owens' death, partly due to the choice to charge Lorinz with murder rather than second-degree murder, as well as the fact that Lorinz was arrested shortly after the shooting. Was not taken into custody. occurred.
of florida “Stand Your Word” LawA controversial doctrine adopted in several U.S. states that allows individuals to use force in self-defense scenarios played a role in those decisions. Law has emerged in similar cases Missouri and elsewhere In recent years, after first entering the mainstream public consciousness fatal shooting of trayvon martinA black teenager near Miami in 2012.
Courtesy of Ben Crump
Gladson's office said in a statement after Lorincz's charges were disclosed, “In making the filing decision on this case, my office carefully examined the feasibility of charging second-degree murder and murder with a firearm, both first-degree felonies. ” According to the state's attorney, the second-degree murder charge requires “proof of hatred, malice, malice or evil intent toward the victim at the time of the murder”, which the Marion County Sheriff's criminal investigation did not sufficiently find. .
The statement continued, “As reprehensible as the defendant's actions in this case were, there is insufficient evidence to prove this specific and essential element of second-degree murder.” It says the charges of second-degree murder and murder with a firearm are both first-degree felonies.
Lorinz shot Owens during an ongoing dispute over children in the neighborhood, which included Owens' children who were apparently playing in the vicinity of Lorinz's residence, according to testimony at the trial and Lorinz's arrest. According to the affidavit.
Authorities said Owens confronted Lorincz at the door of her home on the day of the shooting, after learning the older woman was engaged in an argument with children outside, yelled and threw a roller skate at one of them.
Owens' 10-year-old son accompanied her to Lorincz's residence, where he knocked on Lorincz's door and demanded she come outside. Lorincz fired a .380-caliber handgun through the door, striking Owens in the upper chest. Owens was unresponsive when officers arrived at the scene and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The door to his home was closed and Owens was unarmed when Lorincz opened fire.
Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, told “CBS Mornings” A week after her death her grandson witnessed the shooting and felt guilty that he could not save his mother. He was a 10-year-old boy who got hit by roller skates.
“I still can't believe it happened,” Dias said. “When does a person get shot for knocking on the door?”
Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Poole
Lorincz's attorneys claimed throughout the trial that the woman fired her gun in self-defense, the same stance she took in interviews with law enforcement after Owens' death. Lorincz told officers that she feared for her life when Owens arrived at her home, and that she “just fired the gun” because she felt she was in “mortal danger,” according to the arrest affidavit.
He also said he purchased the handgun because of a prior dispute with Owens, whom Lorincz said he had used only a few times at the shooting range last year. Witnesses told law enforcement investigating the shooting that Lorincz was known to harass and harass children in the neighborhood, including Owens' children. horrible racist abuseLorincz admitted to some of those allegations in a conversation with detectives but denied that he intentionally threw a roller skate at a child before the shooting.
According to the Associated Press, after a week-long trial, a jury, consisting only of white jurors, found Lorincz guilty of murder by firearm on August 16.
Gladson said, “This case is undoubtedly a tragic reminder of the devastating consequences of gun violence. The defendant's choices have left four young children without their mother, a loss they will feel for the rest of their lives.” matter, in a statement. “Although today's verdict cannot bring AJ back, we hope it will bring some measure of justice and peace to his family and friends.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who famously represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and others in high-profile lawsuits over racial violence, also represented Owens' family in the case. Crump, in a separate statement after the verdict, called Lorincz's sentencing “an important step toward achieving justice” for Owens and his family.
“We are extremely grateful that the jury has returned a guilty verdict in this heartbreaking case. AJ Owens was a devoted mother whose life was tragically cut short, and loved her children, including an infant son. “Who witnessed this terrible act was left to bear the burden of his loss,” his statement said. “Although nothing can erase the pain he endured, today's decision sends a clear message that senseless violence will be met with accountability. We will stand with AJ's family as they recover and Will fight for a future where no family has to experience this devastating loss.”