Florida’s "stand your ground” law did not spare Susan Lorincz, a white woman, as she was found guilty of killing her Black neighbor. The statute allows citizens to use deadly force as a means of self-defense in regulated circumstances without facing prosecution.
On Friday (Aug. 16), the woman was convicted by an all-white jury of first-degree felony manslaughter for fatally wounding Ajike “A.J.” Owens during a June 2, 2023, dispute. The Ocala residents had allegedly been at odds for three years as the 60-year-old regularly complained about her young neighbors' boisterous play outdoors near her property.
On that fateful day last summer, Owens’ son, who was 10 years old at the time, told her that Lorincz had berated him and friends, thrown a roller skate and struck him, and then swung an umbrella at them. The then-35-year-old went to the woman’s front door to confront her. As she stood outside with her son beside her, a single shot from a.380-caliber handgun was fired through the door. The mother of four later succumbed to her injuries.
Lorincz claimed the shooting was in self-defense. She was arrested and charged with first-degree felony manslaughter with a firearm, plus battery, two counts of assault, and culpable negligence. She entered a written not guilty plea on July 10 while being held on a $154,000 bond.
During the trial, prosecutor Rich Buxman defended Owens, saying that the deceased woman’s actions did not yield lethal force. “It’s not a crime to bang on somebody’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” he told jurors. “There was no imminent danger whatsoever when she fired that gun.”
In a 911 call, Lorincz reported two Black and one Latino kid for trespassing as they played in an area near both her and Owens’ homes. She told the dispatcher, “I’m just sick of these children,” according to the Tampa Bay Times. Officers were en route to her home when she gunned down her neighbor. When she was interviewed by detectives following the fatal shooting, she alleged, “I heard Ms. Owens say, 'I'm going to [expletive] kill you.'... I heard the door crack, and when I heard that door crack, I fired.'"
But Buxman argued that simply was not the case. Instead, he said that Lorincz acted out of anger. He also slammed the notion that she faced an impending threat of violence from the slain mother. “Ms. Owens was banging on the door, telling the defendant to come out. Belief that there was an immediate or imminent danger, such that deadly force was necessary at that time, was simply unreasonable because there was no imminent danger,” he said.
Furthermore, in his closing statement, he illustrated that if “Miss Owens would somehow have managed to bust through this locked, deadbolted metal door, entered her house, and started coming at her, the defendant may have had a right to shoot because that danger would have then been imminent."
Pamela Dias, Owens’ mother, told ABC News that the guilty verdict brought a sense of peace. "Today, our family can sleep a little better knowing that Susan Lorincz will no longer be a threat to our community, especially to my grandchildren," she said after learning the woman's fate. "While this verdict does not bring my daughter AJ back to us, it does bring a sense of peace that we have long sought," added the grieving mother.
In a released statement, attorney Ben Crump said, “This verdict is a critical step in securing justice for AJ and her family. While nothing can erase the pain they've endured, today’s decision sends a clear message that senseless violence will be met with accountability. We will continue to stand by AJ’s family as they heal and fight for a future where no family has to experience such devastating loss.”
The judge has not set a sentencing date yet. Lorincz is being held in the Marion County Jail.