Florida woman who fatally shot Black neighbor sentenced to 25 years in prison

Florida woman Susan Lorincz has been sentenced after being found guilty for the shooting death of her neighbor Ajike Owens.

On Monday, Nov. 25, Judge Robert Hodges sentenced Lorincz to 25 years in prison. The maximum sentence was 30 years.

Susan Lorincz sentenced for fatally shooting Ajike Owens

Lorincz, 56, fatally shot Owens, 35, who confronted her amid repeated confrontations over the neighbor’s children.

The case incited national outrage and sparked debate around the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” laws, which allows people to use deadly force as self-defense in certain situations. Lorincz told detectives she was in fear for her life during the incident.

Lorincz didn’t testify at her trial, but she spoke during the sentencing, saying she wished she could go back and change things.

“I am so sorry I took AJ’s life. I never intended to kill her,” Lorincz said.

What happened that day?

The two neighbors had a longstanding dispute over Owens’s children, who would play in the grass area near Lorincz’s home along with other neighborhood children from the apartment complex, authorities said.

On June 2, 2023, Ms. Owens went to Lorincz’s door to confront her after Lorincz shouted at her children and threw things at them, authorities said. Lorincz fired a handgun through the door, striking an unarmed Owens in the chest.

Lorincz told detectives she was in fear for her life when Owens started banging on her door that night and yelling “I’m gonna kill you,” shown in interrogation video released by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

The defense argued Lorincz had “no choice” but to shoot.

Judge Rogers found Lorincz had called 911 and knew law enforcement was on their way and that she could have stayed in a bedroom where she kept her firearms. And, he said, Owens showed no effort to enter the residence.

“The shooting was completely unnecessary in this case,” said Hodges.