A white woman with a history of child molestation and racist comments was convicted of manslaughter on Friday for the shooting death of her Black neighbor in Ocala, Florida, last year.
Susan Louise Lorincz, 60, killed Azike “AJ” Owens with a single shot from a .380-caliber handgun on June 2, 2023, when Owens knocked on the door of her apartment.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said at the time that Lorincz and Owens had a long-standing “feud” over playdates for Owens’ children.
The six-man jury, all white, found the 60-year-old Lorincz guilty of manslaughter, even though he claimed he acted in self-defense. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Owens, a mother of four, had gone to see Lorincz after he allegedly threw skates and an umbrella at Owens’ children who were playing outside. The women got into an argument, and Owens was shot through the door as the children were also there.
During the trial, jurors were played an interview in which Ms Lorincz told police she feared for her life, said she was scared and wanted Owens to “go away”.
“I wasn’t trying to kill anyone. I was shaking. I was just distraught at the time,” Lorinz said in an interview. “I felt like my life was in danger.”
Prosecutors said Owens was unarmed and the door to Lorincz’s apartment was locked.
Lorincz denied throwing objects at Owens’ children and said in an interview that they harassed him while he lived in the home. Defense attorney Morris Carranza told jurors in his opening statement that Lorincz “deep down he felt he had no choice but to shoot.”
Florida law provides some protection for the use of deadly force when a person “reasonably believes” that the use of that force is necessary because life is in imminent danger. These are often referred to as “self-defense” laws and have given rise to some controversial lawsuits.
Owens’ mother, Pamela Diaz, told reporters that Lorincz had “no respect” for human life.
“She did it with the intent to harm, with the intent to kill, and that’s exactly what she did,” Diaz said. “She has no respect for human life in any form.”
Lorincz drew criticism when he wasn’t initially arrested after the shooting, and the sheriff’s office said at the time that authorities were investigating whether “self-defense” laws applied.
She was arrested on June 6, 2023. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said investigators gathered information from witness interviews and found her actions were not legally justifiable, calling it “simple murder.”
Prosecutors said they considered filing a second-degree murder charge but decided there wasn’t enough evidence to prove intent.
Several neighbors told NBC News in interviews last year that they recalled times when Lorincz would record videos of their children, yell derogatory comments, call police on them and brandish a gun.
Phyllis Wills has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years and said Lorincz had issues with treating children like children, noting that many of the neighbors in the neighborhood had issues with Lorincz.
Wills said Lorincz yelled expletives at the children, used derogatory terms for people with intellectual disabilities and words beginning with the letter “N.”
“She got in her truck and had the radio on really loud and was hyping up the kids,” Wills said. “She got in her truck and was honking the horn for a long time and hyping up the kids.”
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Associated Press
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