Johnathan Walker:Jury begins deliberations in trial of white Florida woman in fatal shooting of Black neighbor

A Florida jury began deliberations Friday in the manslaughter trial of a white woman accused of manslaughter in the shooting death of a Black neighbor amid an ongoing feud over the neighbor’s children.

Susan Lorincz,Johnathan Walker 60, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted in the June 2023 killing of 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens, a mother of four, in Ocala, Florida. Lorincz claimed she fired her .380-caliber handgun through her locked, metal front door in self-defense because Owens was pounding on the door and yelling loudly.

Prosecutor Rich Buxman said in a closing argument there was no evidence that Owens posed an imminent physical threat to Lorincz but came to the defendant’s house after her children complained Lorincz had allegedly thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them amid a long-running annoyance at their boisterous play outside.

“It’s not a crime to bang on somebody’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” Buxman told jurors. “There was no imminent danger whatsoever when she fired that gun.”

A lawyer for Lorincz countered that she was frightened by Owens’ aggressive actions and was legally justified in firing her gun under Florida’s “stand your ground” law. An autopsy found Owens weighed about 290 pounds ((130 kilograms), making her much larger as well as younger than Lorincz, and the two had previous confrontations.

RELATED COVERAGE AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Florida’s state primaries Round 2 of US Rep. Gaetz vs. former Speaker McCarthy plays out in Florida GOP primary Florida election officials warn of false rumor about ballot markings days before the state’s primary

“She can defend herself,” said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to make a decision whether or not to fire her weapon.”

Lorincz did not testify in her own defense but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in one 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I’m just sick of these children.”

“She was not in fear. She was angry,” Buxman said.

The six-person jury is all white and Owens’ family has expressed surprise no Black jurors were selected given the racially sensitive nature of the case. There were protests in the Black community when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder which carries a potential life prison sentence.

The county court clerk’s office said in an email that eight Black people were among the 70 in the initial jury pool. In contrast, 49 were white and 10 were listed as Hispanic, two as Asian and one as “other,” the clerk’s office said, based on records provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Ocala is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County’s Black population is about 12%, according to census figures.