White woman who shot black neighbor to death through door faces sentence for manslaughter in Florida

Prosecutors said Owens had arrived at Lorincz’s home after his children complained that he had thrown skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied. Trial testimony showed that Owens, a mother of four young children, was banging on Lorincz’s door and yelling, prompting Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.

Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that he feared for his life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.

“I thought I was in imminent danger,” he said.

But jurors disagreed with his claim of self-defense.

Owens’ family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was found guilty by an all-white jury.

“Despite the pain of losing Ajike, we are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the court will give Susan Lorincz the maximum sentence for her actions,” Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said in an email statement. before Monday’s sentencing. “Ajike’s legacy will live on through his children and we will continue to fight for justice.”

Lorincz’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Amanda Sizemore, asked for a more lenient sentence, an unspecified sentence less than 11.5 years in prison, which is the lowest for his crime under state guidelines. Sizemore said in court documents that there are several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and was under “extreme harshness” during the confrontation.

There were protests in Ocala’s black community when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with involuntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than second-degree murder, which carries a possible sentence of life in prison. Marion County, which includes Ocala, has a black population of about 12%, according to census figures.