Whoopi Goldberg tearfully slams ‘stand your ground’ laws

The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg tearfully slammed “stand your ground” laws after a black woman’s mother was reportedly shot to death by a white neighbor following a two-year feud.

Goldberg, 67, got emotional after listening to Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens’ mother speak candidly about her daughter’s death on Wednesday’s episode of The View, and how the suspected white perpetrator tried to ‘stand your ground’ laws to defend shooting Owens, a black woman, killed through a door in Florida on June 2.

‘This could be one of you. Know it’s a bad law,” the actress said before choking. “We want to help get rid of it and I hope this case will finally shed some light on this.

“We’ll keep doing this, we’ll keep talking about it,” she continued. “There are no words, there are no words. We are beyond devastated by your loss.’

Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, was arrested and charged with shooting Owens. She was charged with manslaughter with a firearm and other counts. She is free on $150,000 bail.

The suspected white perpetrator attempted to use “stand your ground” laws to shoot and kill Owens, a black woman, through a door in Florida on June 2.

Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, also revealed on the show that her grandchildren, nine and 12, had been playing on a “private field” and that her grandson had forgotten to bring his tablet. When he went to get it, Lorincz was “there to bother him.”

She called him racial slurs, said this is not the subway. She threw a skate at him, broke his tablet,” Dias said. So he did what any normal kid would do. He went home and told his mother.’

When Owens, 35, went to the house after being asked by Lorincz, she was shot through a locked door.

“I have four young grandchildren. The two eldest boys blame themselves,” Dias revealed. “The nine-year-old feels like if he hadn’t left his tablet behind, his mom would still be there. The 12-year-old, he couldn’t do anything to save her. He has already started trauma therapy.

“I also have a three-year-old toddler who has no idea what’s going on. I’m trying to decipher his crying, you know, his irritability. Is he just hungry, tired, sleepy or missing his mother?’

Dias denounced people’s “natural instinct to shoot first” and said the country has “too much access to guns.”

Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, also revealed on the show that her grandchildren, nine and 12, “blame themselves” for their mother’s death

Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, (pictured) was arrested and charged with shooting Owens. She was charged with manslaughter with a firearm and other counts. She is free on $150,000 bond

She admitted to the police that she had investigated stand your ground law and self-defense prior to the shooting. She and Owens had a two-year dispute prior to the shooting

“People’s natural instinct is to shoot first rather than talk, you know. Use their minds, use their words. No longer an eye for life,” she told the ladies of The View on Wednesday.

The family’s attorney, Anthony Thomas, agreed, saying that “the laws in the state of Florida allow for the shoot-first mentality.”

“That’s exactly what Susan did in this situation,” he said. ‘Mrs. Dias said nothing about it, but in the statement of the arrest, Susan told the nine-year-old, go get your mother. She created the situation. She wanted this to happen.

In that affidavit she admits to having researched stand your ground law. She used words that the detectives thought were interesting and they asked her “Why are you using these words?” These were buzzwords and clues that made them think why are you using these things in self-defense prior to this incident.

“She wanted to use stand your ground as a protective shield.”

Dias said: ‘[Owens] was not just a statistic. She was my daughter. She was the mother of four precious children… They have a grandmother, but they will never feel their mother’s arms, their mother’s kisses, their mother’s hugs.”

Lorincz was arrested earlier this month over the bitter two-year dispute over children playing outside.

‘This could be one of you. Know it’s a bad law,” the actress said before choking while talking about stand your ground laws. “We want to help get rid of it and I hope that this case will finally clarify this.”

Dias denounced people’s “natural instinct to shoot first” and said the country has “too much access to guns.” She said, ‘People’s natural instinct is to shoot first rather than talk’

She created the situation. She wanted this to happen,” family attorney Anthony Thomas said of Lorincz

Lorincz was charged with manslaughter with a gun, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said last week.

In a video posted by the sheriff’s office after her arrest, Lorincz was seen hanging her head as she was let out with her hands handcuffed behind her back, flanked by deputies.

“The justice we’ve all sought has been served,” Sheriff Billy Woods said last week. It follows public pressure for police to take action following the murder after authorities first said they should take time to determine what role Florida’s “stand your ground” law might play in the incident.

Authorities came under pressure last week to arrest and charge Lorincz in a case that has brought back the spotlight on Florida’s divisive state of affairs.

Woods said this was not a position, but “just a murder.”

When interviewed, Lorincz claimed she acted in self-defense and that Owens had tried to break down her door before firing her firearm.

Lorincz also claimed that Owens had come after her in the past and attacked her before. Their investigation — including obtaining eyewitness testimony — allowed detectives to determine that Lorincz’s actions were not justified under Florida law, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.