Ajike “AJ” Owens’s family is calling on the Department of Justice and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to consider her murder a hate crime, ABC News reports.
Owens, a Black mother of four, was fatally shot through a closed door by her white neighbor, Susan Lorincz, on June 2 in Ocala, Florida. Lorincz is facing multiple charges, including first-degree manslaughter, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault. However, Owens’ family is pushing for an upgrade from manslaughter to murder. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, says her grandchildren are asking how long their ex-neighbor will be in jail as Lorincz faces 30 years if convicted. “Thirty years, that’s not sufficient, because this is a lifetime of trauma that these children are going to have to deal with,” Dias said.
“One single person has truly changed our lives—the kids’ lives forever. Forever. So it’s a lot of grief, a lot of sadness over here.”
According to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Lorincz is being held on a $150,000 bond and remains in custody. Her pretrial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 2, with jury selection projected to begin on Nov. 13.
Police reports and body camera footage tell the long history between the former neighbors. Between February 2022 and April 2023, Lorincz called the authorities seven times to complain about the children in her neighborhood, including the Owens kids. Lorincz can be heard on camera referring to the children with “the n-word” and another neighbor accusing her of being racist.
The Owens’ family attorney, Anthony Thomas, says the family is “devastated” and “disappointed” by the charges and hopes they are changed, according to ABC 11; however, Florida State Attorney William “Bill” Gladson said there isn’t enough evidence to prove a case for the charges the family wants. “As deplorable as the defendant’s actions were in this case, there is insufficient evidence to prove this specific and required element of second-degree murder,” Gladson said. “Depraved mind requires evidence of hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent toward the victim at the time of the killing.”
