Body camera footage shows dispute between Susan Lorincz and Ajike Owens prior to fatal shooting
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on July 4, 2023
(NEW YORK) — Body camera footage released Monday by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office shows Susan Lorincz, the woman charged with manslaughter for shooting her neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens on June 2, calling sheriff’s deputies on multiple occasions to complain about children in her Ocala, Florida, neighborhood.
The most recent incident captured in the footage took place on April 25.
Videos from that day show Lorincz and Owens each speaking to sheriff’s deputies after Lorincz alleged that Owens threw a sign at her.
“I called because the woman across the street hit me with a sign,” Lorincz said in the video.
Owens admitted in the video to removing the “private property” sign and throwing it.
“I literally went and picked the sign up and as I walked off I threw the sign. I said I can go and buy a sign too, it still doesn’t mean anything,” Owens told police.
An unidentified neighbor told police that the sign didn’t hit Lorincz.
“All she did was tell the lady to stop yelling at her kids. That lady yells at everybody’s kids out here,” the neighbor said.
Lorincz, who is white, was arrested on June 6 and charged with first-degree manslaughter, which could be punishable by up to 30 years in prison, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. She was also charged with culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault.
Lorincz was held on $150,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on July 11.
According to a June 6 statement from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Lorincz shot Owens through her front door after the mother of four went to speak with Lorincz about a dispute over Owens’ children playing near Lorincz’s home.
In the body camera videos, a child alleges that Lorincz called the children in the neighborhood “the n-word.” One child accused Lorincz of being “racist.”
“I do not have a comment at this time,” Lorincz’s attorney, Amanda Sizemore, told ABC News Monday when asked about the release of the footage and the allegation that Lorincz called the children the “n-word.”
Sizemore also declined to comment on the charges that her client is facing.
Lorincz has admitted to calling children in the neighborhood the n-word and other derogatory terms in the past, according to a police report.
Owens’ family called on prosecutors to upgrade the charges against Lorincz from manslaughter to second-degree murder during a press conference on June 27.
Florida State Attorney William “Bill” Gladson said there was insufficient evidence to prove such a charge in court.
“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.
ABC News reached out to attorneys representing the Owens family for further comment.
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