Family ‘devastated’ after white woman charged with manslaughter in death of Black mom Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens
Florida State Attorney William "Bill" Gladson stated that while Susan Lorincz's actions were "deplorable," there is not enough evidence to support a murder charge in court.
The family of Ajike “AJ” Owens is not pleased with prosecutors’ decision to charge the woman who killed her in Florida with manslaughter.
During a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Owens’ family urged the prosecution to change the charges against Susan Lorincz from first-degree felony manslaughter to second-degree murder, ABC News reported.
However, Florida State Attorney William “Bill” Gladson stated that while Lorincz’s actions in Ocala, Florida were “deplorable,” there is not enough evidence to support such a charge in court.
“We are devastated,” Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, told ABC in a statement. “How do I explain to AJ’s children, my young grandbabies, that the loss of their mother’s life is still not being taken seriously? Only a living breathing AJ would be true justice, and today’s charge could not be further from that.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said after the mother of four went to talk to Lorincz on June 2 about a disagreement regarding Owens’ children playing near her house, Lorincz shot Owens through a door.
Owens’ son said during an interview with authorities that Lorincz became enraged and threw a skate at him, but she did not strike him.
“The children then went and told their mother, Owens, about what had happened,” the sheriff’s office said, according to ABC. “Owens approached Lorincz’s home, knocked on the door multiple times, and demanded that Lorincz come outside.”
Lorincz reportedly fired one shot through the door of her home, striking Owens in the upper chest as her 10-year-old son stood beside her.
In her police interview, Lorincz allegedly claimed she was acting in “self-defense” and that Owens was attempting to “break down her door,” but through the course of the investigation, “detectives were able to establish that Lorincz’s actions were not justified under Florida law,” according to the sheriff’s office.
In a video statement on June 6, the day authorities arrested Lorincz, Billy Woods of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting was “simply a killing.”
Gladson claimed that deciding what to charge Lorincz with took significant consideration. He concluded that to prosecute someone for second-degree murder successfully, prosecutors would have to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt “the existence of a depraved mind toward the victim at the time of the killing.”
“Depraved mind requires evidence of hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent toward the victim at the time of the killing,” Gladson said, ABC reported.
Lorincz has pleaded not guilty. Her next court hearing is slated to take place on July 11. She could receive a 30-year prison sentence if convicted.
The National Action Network’s president, the Rev. Al Sharpton, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement, said the justice system failed Owens and her family by declining to file murder charges against “a shooter who fired blindly through the door. Florida officials have failed AJ throughout this entire process.”
Sharpton demanded the shooting be investigated as a possible federal hate crime by the U.S. Justice Department.
Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump has agreed to represent the Owens family.
“The family will continue to not only advocate for accountability in all forms, but they also will continue to say her name so that Florida officials remember this tragic loss of life,” Crump told ABC in a statement. “There is still much that needs to be done to make Florida a place where Black women and children feel safe and protected.”
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