Suspencz, a white woman who shot her black neighbor through her front door because she didn’t like how the neighbor’s kids were playing outside, was found guilty of murder.
Ajike “AJ” Owens, 35, died in June 2023. Susan Lorincz, 59, was found guilty of manslaughter by use of a firearm by a Marion County, Fla., jury on Friday, Aug. 16. This came after a week-long hearing called by the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
PEOPLE looked at the 911 call from June 2, 2023, which says that Lorincz said Owens’ kids were breaking the law by being on her land in Ocala, Florida, and that one of the kids had threatened to beat her up. This is what led to the shooting.
People got a copy of the arrest document from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It said that Lorincz had grown angry at Owens’ kids playing in a field close to her house over the past few years.
The statement says that Lorincz told police that he had “used the n-word toward children out of anger in the past and also to calling children other derogatory terms.”
Authorities had already said that Lorincz got into a fight with the kids the night of the killing and hit Owens’ 10-year-old son in the foot with a roller skate. He then swung an umbrella at another son.
The statement says that Owens went to Lorincz’s house with her 10-year-old son after learning about this. Owens then knocked on Lorincz’s door several times and told him to come outside. When Lorincz fired one shot through the door, it hit Owens in the upper chest.
Authorities say that Lorincz said she shot Owens in self-defense and that Owens had tried to break down her door before she shot him. Besides that, Lorincz said Owens had gone after her and struck her before.
During the investigation, police talked to neighbors who said Lorincz was always bothering the kids for playing near her house. The statement says that a neighbor told police that Lorincz said bad things about them.
Later, the sheriff’s office said that detectives found that “Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law.” She was charged with manslaughter and arrested.
Owens’ family begged the state attorney to charge Owens with murder, but Gladson said there was “insufficient evidence” to go ahead with a first-degree felony charge of second-degree murder.
And in June 2023, he said, “As State Attorney, I must follow the law in every case I prosecute.” “In this case, I did that. Some people may not agree with that decision, but I can promise you that it was well-thought-out and based only on the facts of this terrible crime.”
The single mother Owens was honored on a GoFundMe page set up to help her four kids for having an “infectious personality” and a “smile that would light up the room.”
In the news release, Gladson said, “This case is without a doubt a tragic reminder of the terrible effects of gun violence.” “The defendant made decisions that took away the mother of four young children. They will feel this loss for the rest of their lives.”
The judge also said, “Today’s verdict can’t bring AJ back, but we hope it brings her family and friends some justice and peace.”
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