A Florida jury began deliberations Friday in the manslaughter trial of a white woman accused of manslaughter in the gunshot death of a black neighbor, amid an ongoing feud over the neighbor’s children.
Susan Lorincz, 60, faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty of the murder in June 2023 of 35-year-old Ajike “AJ” Owens, a mother of four, in Ocala, Florida. Lorincz claimed she fired her .380-caliber pistol through her locked metal front door in self-defense because Owens was banging on the door and yelling.
Prosecutor Rich Buxman said in his plea that there was no evidence that Owens posed an immediate physical danger to Lorincz, but that he came to the defendant’s home after her children complained that Lorincz had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, having been annoyed by their exuberant play outside.
“It’s not a crime to bang on someone’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” Buxman told the jury. “There was absolutely no imminent danger when she fired that gun.”
A lawyer for Lorincz argued that she was afraid of Owens’ aggressive actions and was legally justified when firing her gun under Florida’s “stand firm” law. An autopsy revealed that Owens weighed approximately 290 pounds (130 kilograms), making her much larger and younger than Lorincz, and the two had had previous confrontations.
“She can defend herself,” said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to decide whether or not to fire her weapon.”
Lorincz did not testify in her own defense, but said in an interview with investigators that she never intended to harm Owens. Yet in a 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I’m just tired of these kids.”
“She wasn’t scared. She was angry,” Buxman said.
The jury of six is all white, and Owens’ family has expressed surprise that no black jurors were selected, given the racially sensitive nature of the case. There were protests in the black community when prosecutors took weeks to Lorincz to be charged with manslaughtera less serious offense than second-degree murder, which is punishable by life imprisonment.
The county clerk’s office said in an email that eight Black people were among the 70 in the initial jury. In contrast, 49 were white and 10 were listed as Hispanic, two as Asian and one as “other,” the clerk’s office said, citing data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Ocala is located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County’s black population is about 12%, according to census figures.