Susan Lorincz Faces 30 Years In Prison For Shooting And Killing Her Black Neighbor

As BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported, Susan Lorincz, the 60-year-old white woman who shot and killed her Black neighbor, 35-year-old Ajinke “AJ” Owens, was convicted of manslaughter in August.

According to The Associated Press, Lorincz faces up to 30 years in a Florida state prison during her sentencing on Nov. 25 for shooting and killing Owens with her .380 caliber pistol.

During the trial, prosecutors made note of a long-running feud between the two neighbors that eventually escalated when Owens accused Lorincz of throwing roller skates and an umbrella at her children, which the older woman denied.

When Owens came back to the woman’s house and pounded on her door while yelling, Lorincz shot Owens through the door and later told detectives in a recorded interview that she feared for her life.

“I thought I was in imminent danger,” Lorincz told the officers.

However, a jury did not agree with the substance of Lorincz’s claim of shooting Owens in self-defense and convicted her of manslaughter.

After the trial’s conclusion, Owens’ family, including her mother, Pamela Dias, argued for the maximum sentence for their daughter’s killer.

“While the pain of losing Ajike, we are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the court will give Susan Lorincz the maximum penalty for her actions,” Dias told the AP in an email statement ahead of the sentencing on Nov. 25. “Ajike’s legacy will live on through her children, and we will continue to fight for justice.”

According to criminal defense attorney Jonathan Rose, although the maximum sentence in Lorincz’s case is 30 years, she is likely to serve between 15 and 30 years despite her advanced age.

“I think what you can expect is for her to be sentenced, you know, somewhere between probably 15 to 30 years,” Rose told Spectrum News. “I think it’s extremely unlikely that she’ll be sentenced under whatever that presumptive minimum is. I’d say it’s next to impossible that she’ll be sentenced to a probationary sentence, even though she’s 60 years old.”

According to Newsweek, the case, which occurred in Ocala, Florida, sparked protests from Ocala’s Black community because it took prosecutors weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter instead of second-degree murder.

However, manslaughter carries a lower burden of proof than murder, which makes it more likely to return a guilty verdict, as it did in Lorincz’s case.

To that point, Florida State Attorney William Gladston explained the decision of his office to seek the lesser charge of manslaughter, saying that they possessed insufficient evidence to adequately prove that Lorincz harbored “hatred, spite, ill will, or evil intent” for Owens.

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