Woman who shot and killed mother of four in Florida in front of her son charged with manslaughter

A white woman accused of fatally shooting a black mother of four after a dispute involving the murdered Florida woman’s children has been arrested.

Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, was charged with manslaughter with a gun, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement released early Wednesday morning.

Lorincz, who is white, is accused of shooting Ajike “AJ” Owens through a locked door in Ocala on Friday night.

It is alleged that during a heated argument, Lorincz threw a roller skate at one of Owens’ children and waved an umbrella at another before going to tell their mother.

In a video posted by the sheriff’s office, the 58-year-old can be seen hanging her head down as she is taken into custody by authorities.

Owen’s children were playing in a field near an apartment complex in Ocala, Florida, on Friday when Lorincz “started yelling at them to get off her country and calling them racial slurs,” noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump said.

The kids then accidentally left an iPad behind after they left the field, Crump explained, before going back to get it.

According to the police, Lorincz had “a fight with the children” that was overheard by a neighbor.

“During this altercation, Lorincz threw a roller skate at Owens’ 10-year-old son, hitting the child on the toe,” the statement said.

“After that, when the child and his 12-year-old brother went to talk to Lorincz, she opened her door and waved an umbrella at them.”

As they marched to Lorincz’s house, Owens would approach her door and “knock several times and demand that Lorincz come out.”

Police say this is when Lorincz “fired a shot through the door and hit Owens in the upper chest.” She later died in hospital from her injuries.

“At the time she was shot, Owens’ 10-year-old son was standing next to her.”

During questioning, Lorincz told police that “she had acted in self-defense and that Owens had tried to break down her door before firing her gun.”

“Lorincz also claimed that Owens had come after her in the past and attacked her before.”

Police said through their investigation and eyewitness testimony, they were able to determine that “Lorincz’s actions were not warranted under Florida law.”

Under Florida’s “stand your ground” law, people are essentially allowed to use deadly force if they feel their lives are in danger.

“Every time we think or perceive or believe that [the ‘stand your ground’ law] come into play, we cannot make an arrest. The law specifically says so,” Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference Monday.

“And what we have to rule out is whether this lethal force was justified or not before we can make the arrest.”

Woods acknowledged that prior to the shooting, Owen’s children argued with the neighbor about being on her lawn. He said officers have responded to complaints about the ongoing feud six times since January 2021.

Crump, who represents Owens’ family, said in a statement that the shooter had yelled racial slurs at the children before confronting their mother. Owens and her children are black.

The sheriff’s office has not confirmed that any insults were made or said whether race was a factor in the shooting.

Crump tweeted a photo of Owens on Monday. This is Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens – a mother of four who was fatally shot after allegedly knocking on the door of a white woman’s residence to retrieve her child’s iPad.

“It is believed that Owens’ children accidentally left the device in a field they were playing in, and the woman took it with her.”

“It’s ridiculous when they try to justify this unjustified murder of this mother of four. It’s heartbreaking on every level,” he said CNN prior to the arrest.

Woods was joined at his press conference by community leaders and a local lawyer retained by the family, Anthony Thomas.

At a family vigil later Monday, Thomas said the sheriff had promised him the most professional service he and his deputies could provide, and Thomas plans to keep the service to that.

At the same meeting, 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.’

This is just the latest incident of Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law.

In April, one of two men who shot each other’s daughters in a traffic accident had his charges dropped after prosecutors ruled he acted in self-defense under the law.

Frank Allison, 44, opened fire on 36-year-old William Hale after the two began swerving on a Florida highway last year and checking their brakes. He shot at Hale’s car after the 36-year-old threw a bottle of water into his car during the fight.

But authorities decided his first shot was justified under Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law, and determined that Hale was guilty of the ensuing mayhem.