MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A jury on Friday found a Florida woman guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of her neighbor during a dispute last year about the amount of noise the neighbor’s children were making.
Susan Lorincz, 60, of Ocala, who was arrested in the June 2023 shooting death of 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens, now faces up to 30 years in prison.
The jury deliberated for 2.5 hours. Lorincz, who claimed self-defense, will be sentenced at a later date.
Lorincz showed no reaction or emotion when the verdict was announced. Owens’ family cried after Lorincz left the courtroom with deputies.
Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, spoke outside the courtroom shortly after the verdict was read.
“This has been a long journey to get to this stage, this verdict,” Dias said. “I’m very pleased with the jury, the prosecution. I find some peace with the verdict. We’ve achieved some justice for Ajike. My heart is a little lighter. We’re now on the path to true healing.”
Dias then thanked family and friends for standing by her side through the ordeal.
“My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones to violence,” she said. “Please keep Ajike’s four children in your prayers.”
A family representative said Owens’ children are coping the best they can and are undergoing counseling.
In his closing argument Friday morning, prosecutor Rich Buxman told jurors that Lorincz admitted to pulling the trigger and killing Owens.
“It wasn’t an accidental situation. It wasn’t a situation where she slipped and the gun accidentally went off and shot the door and struck Ms. Owens,” Buxman said. “That’s not what we have here. She intentionally fired it. There’s no doubt that the defendant intentionally committed an act, which caused the death of Ajike Owens.”
In closings for the defense, Lorincz’s lawyer countered that her client was frightened by Owens’ aggressive actions and was legally justified in firing her gun under Florida’s “stand your ground” law. An autopsy found Owens weighed about 290 pounds, making her much larger as well as younger than Lorincz, and the two had previous confrontations.
“She can defend herself,” said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to make a decision whether or not to fire her weapon.”
Lorincz did not testify in her own defense but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in one 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I’m just sick of these children.”
The defense rested its case after calling three expert witnesses on ballistics and crime scenes.
Prosecutors finished their case on Wednesday.
The two had a long-running dispute over Owens’ children — she was a mother of four — playing boisterously near Lorincz’s home. The night she was shot, Owens had been pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling loudly after Lorincz allegedly threw roller skates and an umbrella at the kids, testimony showed. Lorincz fired one round from her .380-caliber handgun through the door, hitting Owens in the chest and killing her, police said.
Just before the court broke for lunch on Wednesday, the jury was able to see the detectives question Lorincz following the shooting as they worked to understand why she fired the gun.
Opening statements happened Tuesday and evidence was introduced to the jury, including a gun that prosecutors say was used to kill Owens and what was found in and around Owens’ neighbor’s home.
Jurors saw measurements from inside Lorincz’s home. Prosecutors say it proves she was not in her kitchen when she pulled the trigger.
Lorincz’s 911 call was also played. Her defense attorneys say she was in fear for her life when she fired her gun. The state pointed to later statements Lorincz made during questioning after the shooting.
“Was your goal to shoot and kill her?” a detective asked.
“No,” she replied.
“What was your goal?”
“To shoot and hopefully, you know, she’ll hear the shot and dissipate,” she said.
Owens’ children were initially expected to testify, including one of her sons, who was standing next to her when she died.
However, the state chose not to ask her children to take the stand.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: