A Florida woman has been placed on suicide watch following the shooting death of her neighbor, identified as mother-of-four, Ajike Owens.
Susan Lorincz, aged 58, appeared in court Wednesday wearing a “suicide gown,” to face manslaughter, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault charges. Lorcinz requested a public defender, while the prosecution requested a high bond amount, given the severity of the alleged crimes.
The state, according to ABC 20, has yet to file the proper paperwork for a bond increase request. The presiding judge scheduled another hearing for next week, giving the state time to fill out a pretrial motion.
For now, Lorincz remains behind bars without bail at the Marion County Jail.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Lorincz stands accused of fatally shooting Owens by firing through her front door in Marion County earlier this month. According to police, the victim’s 9-year-old son was standing next to her when she was shot, after knocking on Lorincz’s door to confront her about threatening her children.
The arrest comes after community members pressed officials to charge Lorincz. Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney, alleged that Lorincz uttered racial slurs at the kids before Owens went to the woman’s apartment. Owens and her children are black and Lorincz is white.
“Lorincz admitted to having used the n-word toward children out of anger in the past and also to calling children other derogatory terms,” the affidavit read.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods explained that investigators took time to carefully review the facts to determine whether Lorincz acted in self-defense and was justified in using force under the state’s “stand your ground” law.
Investigators ultimately determined that Lorincz did not have a valid reason to shoot Owens.
“And we got a bigger picture, the full picture. And my detectives wanted to make sure that we closed all the loopholes, so she would not have the defense of using the ‘stand your ground’ law, and this is not ‘stand your ground,” Woods told Fox 35.
“Let me make that clear — this was not ‘stand your ground.’ It was an unjustified shooting.”
Prosecutors charged Lorincz with assault and battery against the children after she allegedly threw skates at them and hit one of them. The state also alleges that Lorincz swung an umbrella at two of the kids when they went to her door.
Lorincz told police that Owens was attempting to break down her door, but neighbor Lauren Smith told The Associated Press that Owens did not have a weapon and did not initiate an altercation with the shooter. Other neighbors described the defendant as a hostile person who often harassed children in the area and made false police reports.
Lorincz “was angry all the time that the children were playing out there,” Smith told the AP. “She would say nasty things to them.”
Daily Beast reports that Lorincz told police that she had ongoing problems with Owens’ sons for around two years. These issues stemmed from their reported disregard for her personal peace and privacy.
Lorincz reportedly said that the children frequently played near her apartment, trespassed, and threatened to end her life, according to what she told police.
Smith said after the shooting, one of Owens’ sons was yelling “They shot my mama, they shot my mama,” according to the AP. Smith ran across the street and began chest compressions on Owens.
If convicted, Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison on the manslaughter charge alone.
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[Feature Photo: Police escort Susan Lorincz after her arrest/Marion County Sheriff’s Office]
