White neighbor convicted of manslaughter in fatal shooting of Black mother of 4 to be sentenced today

By Chris Boyette, CNN

(CNN) — The family of Ajike “AJ” Owens, a Black mother of four who was shot and killed by her neighbor during an ongoing dispute over children playing near the neighbor’s home, says the 60-year-old White woman deserves “the maximum penalty under the law,” according to a statement.

The neighbor, Susan Lorincz, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday afternoon in a Florida courtroom, according to court records.

“The jury’s guilty verdict of manslaughter with a weapon was an important step, but we now look to the court to follow that decision with the maximum penalty under the law,” said the statement obtained by CNN affiliate WCJB.

Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison, according to State Attorney Bill Gladson’s office.

In August, a jury found Lorincz guilty of manslaughter for shooting through the front door of her central Florida apartment on June 2, 2023 and killing Owens, 35, who had been knocking on Lorincz’s door.

Amanda Sizemore, a public defender representing Lorincz, had no comment ahead of the sentencing when contacted by CNN.

The trial tested the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use deadly force in self-defense in certain situations.

Lorincz didn’t testify at her trial, but she told police after her arrest that she had previously argued with Owens because several neighborhood children, including Owens’ children, were playing loudly and leaving their toys outside her home. She said she confronted the children that day and threw their roller skates.

She told detectives she was in fear for her life when Owens started banging on her door that night and yelling “I’m gonna kill you,” interrogation video released by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office showed.

The defense argued Lorincz had “no choice” but to shoot.

Prosecutor Rich Buxman argued that in order for the defendant to lawfully use deadly force, the threat to her life “must be imminent.”

“If Ms. Owens would somehow have managed to bust through this locked, dead bolted metal door, enter her house and start coming at her, the defendant may have had a right to shoot … but that’s not the situation we have here,” Buxam told jurors.

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