The woman accused of shooting her neighbor to death on Friday was arrested in Florida, United States on Tuesday, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and attorneys for the victim.
Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, was arrested for manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault in the death of 35-year-old Ajike Owen, a Nigerian and a mother of four better known as AJ.
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began when Lorincz became angry that Owens’ children were playing in a field close to her home.
She then threw a skate at Owens’ 10-year-old son, striking him on the foot. The boy and his 12-year-old brother went to Lorincz’s door, and she opened and swung at them with an umbrella, according to the sheriff.
The children went and told their mother, who then approached Lorincz’s door, knocking multiple times and demanding Lorincz come outside.
Officials say that’s when Lorincz fired one shot through the door, striking Owens in her upper chest.
She died with her 10-year-old son standing next to her.
According to investigations, Lorincz claimed that she acted in self-defense and that Owens had been trying to break down her door and that Owens had “come after her in the past.”
“Through their investigation – including obtaining the statements of eyewitnesses who only came forward as late as yesterday – detectives were able to establish that Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law,” a release from MCSO stated.
Lorincz will make her first appearance in court on Thursday June 8, at 9 a.m., according to the Marion County Clerk of Court.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is defending Owens’ family. Crump tweeted, “The unidentified 58-year-old white woman connected to the shooting death of Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens has been arrested. #JusticeForAJ.”
Protestors went to the Ocala courthouse on Tuesday to demand the shooter be arrested. They say Owens’ death was unjustified and that the neighbor had called her children racial slurs.
Pamela Dias, Owens’ mother, said there was a history between Lorincz and the victim.
“Harassed the children in the neighborhood,” Dias said. “Harassed Ajike Shantrelle Owens’ four babies. She called them racial slurs: the N-word, slaves.”
She said there was no reason for a gun to be fired.
“A closed, locked door,” Dias said. “Door never opened. My daughter, my grandchildren’s mother, was shot and killed with her nine-year-old son standing next to her. She had no weapon. She posed no imminent threat to anyone.”
