A Florida sheriff says he was “happy” to arrest a white woman who shot and killed her black neighbor in a dispute over her children after viewing scathing security footage and seeing several “b******t” claims in her interview.
Susan Lorincz, 58, is accused of shooting mother-of-four Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens, 35, dead in front of Owens’ 10-year-old son after a bitter two-year dispute between the pair came to a tragic end came on June 2.
Lorincz was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault and will appear before a judge at the Marion County Courthouse this morning for the first time following a medical examination.
Authorities arrested her four days after the fatal confrontation in Ocala, Florida, in which Lorincz admitted shooting through her front door and fatally beating Owens who knocked after an incident involving her children.
Lorincz’s claims that she “feared for her life” were dismissed as “BS” on Thursday by Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods, who said footage captured on neighboring property security cameras was “the final nail.”
Susan Lorincz, 58, will make her first appearance before a judge at the Marion County Courthouse this morning on charges of manslaughter following a medical examination
Lorincz is accused of shooting Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens, 35, (pictured) dead in front of her son, 10, after a two-year dispute between the couple ended in tragedy on June 2
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said Lorincz’s version of events was “BS” as accounts from Owens’ children matched surveillance footage from a neighbor’s home
Woods said the Owens children’s stories were supported by the surveillance footage police had seen.
“There are things that people say we can prove is a yellow flag – ab******t flag – and saying no is wrong,” he shared WFTV.
“She couldn’t see through the door, she couldn’t see the person. So her comments about fearing for her life… make the hairs on the back of our necks stand on end.”
The affidavit shows that there were two surveillance cameras in Lorincz’s home, one aimed at the patio and the other attached to the sliding door.
Lorincz, an insurance agent, claimed the cameras were functional, but only recorded movement and sometimes failed to capture anything at night.
The cameras can be accessed through her phone, and after initially refusing to give the access code, Lorincz handed over the phone.
Officers were unable to see any recordings after 8:40 p.m. the night of the incident, but Lorincz denied removing any recordings.
Lorincz remained in possession of her phone for two hours after being placed in a police car – and footage shows her briefly accessing it.
However, it’s unclear what she was doing on the phone from the camera’s point of view, and it was subsequently taken into evidence.
Lorincz told police that Owens’ children had been “intrusive” on her property, with neighbors revealing that she “had a problem with children” and would take them in before berating them with insults and brandishing her guns in their direction.
Lorincz, an insurance agent, told police during her interview that Owens’ children had entered her property in Ocala, Florida, and one of them threatened to beat her up.
Owens went to Lorincz’s house to confront her with allegations that she threw a roller skate at one of her children earlier in the day and smashed a tablet, before waving an umbrella.
Phyllis Wills, 33, told NBC Lorincz would “harass” her kids, adding, “Everyone in this neighborhood has been fighting with this lady about our kids.”
Other parents said they called her a “Karen” after she repeatedly videotaped their children and called the police about their antics.
“It’s an apartment complex. These are kids who, you know, they’re going to do things,” Willis said.
“Every time they even went into the lawn there, she’d say, ‘Get off my lawn, you motherfucker or you retard or you N-word.’ She brandished guns at them.’
When interviewed by police, one of Owens’ sons claimed that Lorincz had previously called them “B******” and “jack****s” and also said, “This is not the underground railway , slave .’
Owens went to Lorincz’s house to confront her with allegations that she threw a roller skate at one of her children earlier in the day and smashed a tablet, before waving an umbrella at them.
A statement of arrest revealed that Lorincz called 911 at 8:54 p.m. on June 2 to complain that the children were trespassing and told officers they were yelling outside her door.
Minutes later, officers then received several other 911 calls saying shots had been heard in the area, with Lorincz calling again to say a “woman tried to break down her door while screaming” and shot her.
A patched bullet hole, top right, can be seen on the front door of Lorincz’s home after she fired her Remington 380 pistol, fatally hitting Owens who knocked
The women lived across from each other, and Lorincz had called 911 at 8:54 p.m. on June 2 to complain that the children were trespassing and screaming outside her door.
An arrest affidavit revealed that Lorincz told 911 that a “woman tried to break down her door while screaming,” so she shot her
Owens reportedly told her son, 12, to call 911 after being hit by the bullet, with the young boy telling officers she was “just knocking on the door.” She was rushed to hospital, where she later died.
Lorincz said she fired the Remington 380 pistol and admitted to owning a 22 Ruger — claiming she only bought the gun “for protection after an altercation” with Owens.
She told police she felt she was in “mortal danger” and was “afraid for her life,” before claiming she “never intended to hit the victim” and that she was “banging really high.”
Authorities had come under pressure to arrest and charge Lorincz in a case that has brought back the spotlight on Florida’s divisive stand-your-ground law — with Sheriff Woods describing it as “just another murder’.
Lawyers for Owens’ family are now demanding that the charges be increased to murder, as well as an additional case of “racial abuse” of the children.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said: “There is evidence to raise the charges. Especially when you think about what happened when she harassed the kids with racial slurs and profanity.”
Owens’ children appear with relatives at New St. John Missionary Baptist Church on Monday after mother of four dies in hospital
Owens family attorney Ben Crump calls for charges to be increased to murder as well as an additional case for ‘racial abuse’ of the children
Police records show authorities have been called at least six times since 2021 in connection with Lorincz and Owens
A GoFundMe page has since been set up for Owens’ family to support funeral and memorial expenses, the children’s education, and housing and living expenses for the family.
Nearly $149,000 has been raised to date to support the bereaved with a goal of $500,000.
Tributes have also been paid near the area where Owens was shot, and protesters have demonstrated outside the courthouse and police station.
At a family vigil later Monday, Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said she was seeking justice for her daughter and her grandchildren.
“My daughter, the mother of my grandchildren, was shot dead with her 9-year-old son standing next to her,” Dias said. “She didn’t have a gun. She was no immediate threat to anyone.’