An American woman, Susan Lorincz, who fatally shot her neighbour Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens through a closed door in June 2023, was found guilty on Friday of first-degree felony manslaughter with a firearm.
The jury delivered its verdict just before 3:00 p.m. ET.
Judge Robert Hodges informed Lorincz that she would remain in the Marion County jail without bond until her sentencing.
Lorincz appeared to shrug before leaving the courtroom accompanied by correctional officers. She now faces up to 30 years in prison.
Pamela Dias, Owens’ mother, expressed her relief after Lorincz exited the courtroom, exclaiming, “Oh, God! Thank you, Jesus!”
Dias shared her thoughts, saying, “Today, our family can sleep a little better knowing that Susan Lorincz will no longer be a threat to our community, especially to my grandchildren.”
She added, “While this verdict does not bring my daughter AJ back to us, it does bring a sense of peace that we have long sought.”
In a news conference outside the Ocala, Florida courthouse following the verdict, Dias stated, “I am very pleased with the jury, the prosecution, the verdict of the guilty. I find some peace with that verdict. I feel that, although my daughter is gone forever, the children’s mom is gone forever, but we’ve achieved some justice for Ajike.”
Lorincz’s legal team declined ABC News’ request for comment.
The six-person, all-white jury panel, seated on Monday, began deliberations on Friday shortly after 12:00 p.m. ET following closing arguments from both the prosecution and defense in a case that attracted national attention.
According to a statement from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on June 6, 2023, Lorincz, who is white, shot Owens, a Black mother of four, through a closed door while Owens’ 10-year-old son was present.
Owens had gone to Lorincz’s home to discuss a dispute concerning her children playing nearby. Lorincz was arrested on June 6, 2023, and charged with first-degree felony manslaughter for the June 2 shooting in Ocala, Florida. She pleaded not guilty on July 10, 2023, and was held on a $150,000 bond.
Footage released by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office shows detectives interrogating Lorincz on June 6, 2023, moments before her arrest for Owens’ fatal shooting.
“This verdict is a critical step in securing justice for AJ and her family,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Owens family. “While nothing can erase the pain they’ve endured, today’s decision sends a clear message that senseless violence will be met with accountability.”
Numerous witnesses testified during the trial, including neighbours, children, sheriff’s deputies, a 911 dispatcher and operator, crime scene investigators, and forensic experts.
Prosecutors contended that Lorincz should be convicted because she shot an “unarmed” Owens through a “locked” door.
In his closing argument, state attorney Rich Buxman stated, “Ms. Owens was banging on the door telling the defendant to come out. Belief that there was an immediate or imminent danger, such that deadly force was necessary at that time, was simply unreasonable because there was no imminent danger. And that word imminent is very important. It’s included in the law for a reason… If Miss Owens would somehow have managed to bust through this locked, deadbolted metal door, entered her house and started coming at her, the defendant may have had a right to shoot because that danger would have then been imminent.”
In contrast, the defense argued that Lorincz acted in self-defense because she feared for her life. Lorincz’s attorney, Amanda Sizemore, stated in her closing argument, “The law says you should only convict someone if you’re convinced they’re guilty beyond a reasonable doubt…. If you’re back there and you’re deliberating and you’re thinking, ‘Man, she had some medical issues. She did live alone. She had these prior run-ins with Ajike, I could see how she could be scared of her.’ And if you have reasonable doubt, you should find Ms. Lorincz not guilty because that is what the law says. And each and every one of you took an oath to follow the law.”
A key point in the prosecution’s case was the first 911 call that Lorincz made on June 2, 2023, to report “trespassing” minutes before she shot Owens.
Witnesses, including sheriff’s deputies who responded to the scene, testified that law enforcement was already on their way to Lorincz’s home when the shooting occurred because Lorincz had called 911 to report three children—one Latino and two Black—were “trespassing” on her property.
During the trial, the condition of the locked door became a central focus of the prosecution’s argument and was thoroughly examined during the testimony of various witnesses.
The defense maintained that Owens had threatened to “kill” Lorincz and was attempting to “break” through the front door, which they argued was “damaged.”
Lorincz’s former landlord, Charles Gabbard, testified that he had repaired a jam on Lorincz’s front door before the shooting and that, despite some cosmetic damage, the door was “structurally sound” with a chain, a deadbolt, and a lock.
Under cross-examination, Gabbard revealed that Lorincz had not explained how the door was damaged but noted that “it was clear that someone slammed” the door. He stated that he planned to replace the door eventually. When asked by Lorincz’s attorney if the crack in the door was “substantial,” Gabbard replied, “Yes.”
“Susan Lorincz told detectives, ‘I really thought she was going to break my door down,'” Sizemore said. “‘I really thought that I saw the door moving.’ And I really believe that. I honest to God believe that is what she said. She reasonably believed that. We heard Susan tell the detectives, ‘I heard Ms. Owens say, ‘I’m going to [expletive] kill you.’ … I heard the door crack, and when I heard that door crack, I fired.'”
Judge Hodges stated that he would order a pre-sentence investigation as requested by the defense and schedule a sentencing at a later date, with the expectation that sentencing would occur well before November.
