By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-25 22:37:01 | Updated at 2024-11-26 00:47:24
2 hours ago
A white woman who fatally shot her black neighbor through her front door has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted of manslaughter after a week-long trial in August - a little over a year after she killed Ajike 'AJ' Owens, 35, while she stood next to her 12-year-old son on the doorstep in Ocala, Florida.
She faced Lorincz a maximum sentence of 30 years in state prison because a firearm was used.
Lorincz hung her head on Monday as Owens' mother Pamela Dias gave a heart-wrenching victim impact statement before the court.
She was also seen crying and wiping her nose throughout the hearing.
'Ajike was a beloved mother, daughter, and friend whose life was tragically cut short,' Dias told the court. 'It is virtually impossible to convey all of the ways that Susan has devastated our lives....
'My baby girl, my only daughter, is gone forever. Susan Lorincz took her life at the age of 35 years old. I stand before you mourning not only the loss of my daughter but also the loss of our hopes, dreams and the future that we often spoke of.
'They all died the night Susan Lorincz killed my daughter.'
Dias spoke at length about Owen's four children have struggled to deal with her death.
Susan Lorincz, 60, hung her head on Monday as Owens' mother Pamela Dias gave a heart-wrenching victim impact statement before the court
Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied
'She destroyed out family. She killed out family,' Dias added.
The shooting was the culmination of a long-running argument between the two neighbors over Owens' children playing in a grassy area at both of their houses in Ocala, about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.
Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied.
Trial testimony showed Owens, a mother of four young children, was pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling, leading Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.
Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.
But jurors did not agree with her self-defense claim.
Before the sentencing, psychologist Yenys Castillo, who has spoken at length with Lorincz, told the court that she was sexually abused by her father from the age of 4 to the age of 20.
Lorincz's pastor, Shannon Harris, and a couple from her church also spoke in defense of her character.
Owens’ family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was convicted by an all-white jury.
Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life
The women lived across the road from each other and Lorincz had called 911 at 8.54pm on June 2 to complain that the children were trespassing and shouting outside her door
A patched bullet hole, upper right, is seen on the front door of Lorincz's home after she fired her Remington 380 gun and fatally struck Owens who came knocking
'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,' said Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias.
'Ajike’s legacy will live on through her children, and we will continue to fight for justice.'
Lorincz’s public defender Amanda Sizemore sought a more lenient sentence, an unspecified term below the 11.5 years in prison that is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines.
Sizemore said in court documents that there are several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and under 'extreme duress' during the confrontation.
There were protests in the black community in Ocala when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence.
