A jury on Friday convicted a white Florida woman for shooting and killing a Black mother of four through her front door in a case that provoked outrage from civil rights advocates and the victim’s family.
Susan Lorincz denied the manslaughter of Ajike “AJ” Owens, who came to her house to remonstrate after the defendant assaulted two of Owens’ children on 2 June last year. Lorincz could receive a prison sentence of up to 30 years in prison at a hearing on a date to be determined.
Pamela Dias, mother of the 35-year-old victim, became emotional as the verdict was read after two and a half hours of deliberations.
“Oh God, thank you,” she said before leaving the courtroom.
The weeklong trial before an all-white jury in Marion county heard there was a history of conflict between Owens and Lorincz, whom neighbors said previously yelled racist slurs at Owens’ children, and struck one of them with a hurled roller skate on the day of the killing.