A Florida judge has granted a $154,000 bond for Susan Louise Lorincz, who fatally shot her neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens on June 2.
The 58-year-old returned to a Marion County courtroom today and received the news after her previous appearance on Thursday (June 8). According to The Associated Press, yesterday, she pled not guilty to a first-degree felony charge of manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and assault.
As part of the Ocala resident’s bond, Judge Robert Hodges ordered her to wear an ankle monitor and to stay away from Owens’ family. Per the publication, the courtroom was filled with the 35-year-old’s loved ones who are pushing for a more severe charge such as second-degree murder, Anthony Thomas, one of the family’s lawyers, told reporters afterward.
“We don’t believe that Susan had any sort of respect at all for human life,” Thomas said. “This wasn’t something where she was cleaning a gun and the gun went off, and it goes through the wall or the door, and it accidentally hurts somebody. She meant to pull that trigger. She meant to point it at the door.”
A recently released arrest report unveiled details of how the deadly encounter between Lorincz and Owens unfolded. According to the report, Lorincz admitted to calling her neighbor’s kids the “N” word. She also pointed her middle finger toward the children (ages 12, 9, 7, and 3) and yelled for them to “Get away from my house, you Black slave.”
Recalling the June 2 incident, the 58-year-old alleged she had a headache and Owens’ kids were yelling outside, per AP News. She threw a pair of roller skates at the children, hitting one of them in the foot. After learning this, Owens reportedly walked over to speak with Lorincz and was shot in the chest by the homeowner.