stand your ground laws
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Source: Marion County Sheriff’s Office / MCSO
Susan Lorincz, the white woman who fatally shot her Black neighbor Ajike Owens, received a sentence of 25 years in prison for the offense.
On Monday (Nov. 25), Susan Lorincz, a white woman from Ocala, Florida, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting her neighbor Ajike (A.J.) Owens. The incident where Owens, a Black woman, lost her life sparked waves of outrage across the nation and reignited the debate concerning Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” gun laws. Lorincz shot Owens in the chest through her locked front door last June after Owens (who was unarmed) confronted Lorincz over yelling at her children and throwing roller skates at them.
Owens’ family had sought a charge of second-degree murder initially, but prosecutors opted to charge Lorincz with manslaughter. Circuit Judge Robert Hodges informed the court that he had considered the defense’s testimony that the 60-year-old Lorincz was dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues along with her not having a criminal record. “I find the shooting was completely unnecessary,” he ruled, citing that Lorincz was safe in her home and law enforcement was on the way. “The shooting was based, I find, more in anger than in fear.”
Lorincz addressed the court after several others spoke in her defense at the sentencing including her sister who revealed that Lorincz suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their father which impacted her. “I am so sorry I took A.J.’s life. I never intended to kill her,” Lorincz said. “I could not understand why she was so angry.” Her voice breaking, she continued: “I so wish I could go back and change things so she was still here. I would trade my life.” Witnesses testified that Lorincz harassed other children in the neighborhood, with some citing her calling them racial slurs. Lorincz admitted to some of that behavior in interviews with detectives.
Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, stated that her 10-year-old grandson witnessed the fatal shooting in an interview with CBS This Morning. “I still can’t believe this happened,” Dias said at the time. “When does a person get shot for knocking on a door?” She was overcome with emotion during testimony over the loss of her daughter and how it impacted the four children left behind, saying she was “a mere shell of the person I once was.”
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Source: Marion County Sheriff’s Office / MCSO
A prosecutor in Florida has declined to pursue murder charges against Susan Lorincz, who shot and killed Ajike “AJ” Owens, who was unarmed.
On Monday (June 26th), State Attorney William Gladson publicly announced the criminal charges brought against Lorincz for Owens’ killing, and cited “insufficient evidence” as a reason that his office would not upgrade the charge of manslaughter to murder, claiming that they couldn’t establish that she showed “a depraved mind toward the victim at the time of the killing.” Gladson said that he had consulted with Owens’ family before the announcement. “My office will do all it can to seek justice for Ms. Owens and her family,” he said.
Pamela Dias, Owens’ mother, expressed that the family was “devastated” by the decision. “How do I explain to AJ’s children, my young grandbabies, that the loss of their mother’s life is still not being taken seriously?” she said to a local news network. “Only a living, breathing AJ would be true justice, and today’s charge could not be further from that.” Reverend Al Sharpton also blasted the decision in a statement: “The fact that this woman hurled insults including the N-word at her children and proclaimed, ‘this isn’t the underground railroad, slave,’ should be enough for the Justice Department to investigate this as a federal hate crime.
The mother of four, who is Black, had gone to Lorincz’s door in their Ocala neighborhood to confront her for taking an iPad that belonged to one of her children on June 2nd. Lorincz, a white woman who has a history of documented racist behavior, shot through the door striking Owens who was standing next to her 9-year-old son at the time. Owens died later at a local hospital. Lorincz wouldn’t be arrested until June 6th, after heavy public pressure about the case prevailed. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office claimed that the delay was due to investigating if the incident fell under the “Stand Your Ground” law, which would make it justified.
The 58-year-old Lorincz is being held on a $154,000 bond at the Marion County Jail on a charge of manslaughter with a firearm. Protests over the decision were scheduled for Monday evening. Owens’ family has also created a website where those concerned can take action in addition to a surging GoFundMe campaign, with one of those actions including a petition to repeal Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” gun laws.
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