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White woman who fatally shot Black neighbor through front door arrested
on manslaughter and other charges

June 7, 2023 / 3:11 AM / CBS/AP

Ocala, Fla. A White woman who fired through her front and killed a
Black neighbor was arrested Tuesday, authorities said, in a case that's
put Florida's divisive "stand your ground law" back in the spotlight. The shooting sparked widespread anger and protests.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said Susan Lorincz, 58, was charged
with manslaughter with a firearm and other offenses.

Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, was killed Friday night in a shooting Sheriff Billy Woods said was the culmination of a 2-and-a-half-
year feud between the neighbors.

They lived in the rolling hills south of Ocala, a north Florida city
that's the heart of the state's horse country.

According to the sheriff's office, evidence showed that, over time,
Lorincz had become angry over Owens' children playing in a field close to
her apartment.


On Friday night, the office said, Lorincz got into an argument with the children and "was overhead yelling at them by a neighbor."

During the argument, the office continued, Lorincz threw a roller skate
at Owens' 10-year-old son and hit him in a toe. The boy and his 12-year-
old brother then went to speak to Lorincz, and she opened her door and
swung at them with an umbrella. They told their mother what happened and
"Owens approached Lorincz's home, knocked on the door multiple times, and demanded that Lorincz come outside. Lorincz then fired one shot through
the door, striking Owens in her upper chest.

"At the time she was shot, Owens' 10-year-old son was standing beside
her," the sheriff's office noted.

Deputies responding to a trespassing call at the apartment Friday night
found Owens suffering from gunshot wounds. She later died at a hospital.

When questioned by the sheriff's office, Lorincz claimed she acted in self-defense and that Owens was trying to break down her door. "Lorincz
also claimed that Owens had come after her in the past and had previously attacked her," the office continued.

But "detectives were able to establish that Lorincz's actions were not justifiable under Florida law" and she was arrested, the office said. susan-lorincz.jpg
Susan Lorincz in mugshot after her arrest on June 6, 2023 Marion County (Florida) Sheriff's Office

The manslaughter charge Lorincz is facing is punishable by up to 30
years in prison, the office noted. She's also charged with culpable
negligence, battery, and two counts of assault.

Billy Woods said in a statement that he wants "to thank Ms. Owens' family
for their patience as we conducted the diligent investigation that we
were bound by law to conduct. Ms. Lorincz's fate is now in the hands of
the judicial system which I trust will deliver justice in due course. As
I go to bed tonight, I will be saying a prayer for Ms. Owens' children
and the rest of her family. I'd ask all of you to do the same."
Pressure was mounting

Owens' family members called for the arrest at a news conference Monday.

And at a vigil Monday, Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, said she was seeking
justice for her daughter and her grandchildren.

"My daughter, my grandchildren's mother, was shot and killed with her ...
son standing next to her," Dias said. "She had no weapon. She posed no
imminent threat to anyone."

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who's representing Owens' family, said
in a statement that the shooter had been yelling racial slurs at the
children before the confrontation.

He also represented Trayvon Martin's family in 2012, when the Black
teenager was killed in a case that drew worldwide attention to the
state's stand your ground law.

The sheriff's office hasn't confirmed there were slurs uttered or said
whether race was a factor in the shooting.

About three dozen mostly Black protesters had gathered outside the Marion County Judicial Center Tuesday to demand that the shooter be arrested in
the country's latest flashpoint over race and gun violence. The chief prosecutor, State Attorney William Gladson, met with the protesters and
urged patience while the investigation continued.

Woods said Monday detectives were working with the State Attorney's
Office and had to investigate possible self-defense claims before they
could move forward with any possible criminal charges. The sheriff
pointed out that because of the stand your ground law, he couldn't make
an arrest unless he could prove the shooter didn't act in self-defense.

On Tuesday, a stuffed teddy bear and bouquets marked the area near where
Owens was shot. Nearby, children were riding bikes and scooters, and
playing basketball. Protesters chanted "No justice, no peace" and "A.J.
A.J. A.J," using Owens' nickname. They carried signs saying: "Say her
name Ajike Owens" and "It's about us."

Outside, the Rev. Bernard Tuggerson said the Black community in Ocala has suffered injustices for years. "Marion County is suffering and needs to
be healed completely," he said. "If we don't turn from our wicked ways of
the world, it's going to be an ongoing problem. We want answers."

Lauren Smith, 40, lives across the street from where the shooting
happened. She was on her porch that day and saw one of Owens' young sons pacing, and yelling, "They shot my mama, they shot my mama."

She ran toward the house, and started chest compressions until a rescue
crew arrived. She said there wasn't an altercation and that Owens didn't
have a weapon.

"She was angry all the time that the children were playing out there,"
Smith said. "She would say nasty things to them. Just nasty." Smith, who
is White, described the neighborhood as family friendly.

The sheriff said that since January 2021, deputies responded at least a half-dozen calls in connection with what police described as feuding
between Owens and the woman who shot her.

"There was a lot of aggressiveness from both of them, back and forth,"
the sheriff said the shooter told investigators. "Whether it be banging
on the doors, banging on the walls and threats being made. And then at
that moment is when Ms. Owens was shot through the door."
"Stand your ground" laws in focus

"I'm absolutely heartbroken," Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director
of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, told The Associated
Press. She described the fatal shooting as "so senseless."

"We've seen this again and again across this country," she said, adding
that "it's really because of lax gun laws and a culture of shoot first."

Ferrell-Zabala said stand your ground cases, which she refers to as
"shoot first laws," are deemed justifiable five times more frequently
when a White shooter kills a Black victim.

In 2017, Florida lawmakers updated the state's self-defense statute to
shift the burden of proof from a person claiming self-defense to
prosecutors. That means authorities have to rule out self-defense before bringing charges. Before the change in law, prosecutors could charge
someone with a shooting and then defense attorneys would have to present
an affirmative defense for why their client shouldn't be convicted.

In fact, stand your ground and "castle doctrine" cases - which allow
residents to defend themselves either by law or court precedent when
threatened - have sparked outrage amid a spate of shootings across the
country.

In April, 84-year-old Andrew Lester, a White man, shot and injured 16-
year-old Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who rang his doorbell in Kansas
City after mistakenly showing up at the wrong house to pick up his
younger siblings. Lester faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action; at trial, he may argue that he thought someone was
trying to break into his house, as he told police.

Missouri and Florida are among about 30 states that have stand your
ground laws.

The most well-known examples of the stand your ground argument came up in
the trial of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman, who had a White father and Hispanic mother, told police that
Martin attacked him, forcing him to use his gun in self-defense. He was
allowed to go free, but was arrested about six weeks later after Martin's parents questioned his version of events and then-Gov. Rick Scott
appointed a special prosecutor.

Before trial, Zimmerman's attorneys chose not to pursue a stand your
ground claim, which could have resulted in the dismissal of murder
changes as well as immunity from prosecution. But during the trial, the
law was essentially used as part of his self-defense argument. Jurors
found him not guilty.

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https://media.11alive.com/assets/WXIA/images/4a44ae3f-f7dd-4666-afc1-f2458a7c8974/4a44ae3f-f7dd-4666-afc1-f2458a7c8974_1920x1080.jpg
Demetrius Abercrombie

ATLANTA — Tuesday afternoon, Atlanta Police said they have arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with a rape and a burglary.

According to Atlanta Police Officer Jarius Daugherty, on Friday, May 31, they were summoned to a home in the 2600 block of Old Hapeville Road in connection with a sexual assault.

When they arrived, officers spoke with a woman who said a man had entered her home while she was asleep and assaulted her. After the assault, the victim told police the suspect left the home, Daugherty said.

Authorities released a sketch of the person they were looking for in connection with the crime.

On Tuesday, June 4, investigators said officers were summoned to the same home in connection with a reported burglary. The same victim indicated that she had been away from her home since the May 31 sexual assault, and that in that intervening timeframe,
someone had broken into her home and taken some items, Daugherty said.

While investigating the burglary, officers were able to link the crime to 42-year-old Demetrius Abercrombie.

Daugherty said the Burglary investigator realized Abercrombie appeared to match the description of the sexual assault suspect from the May 31 incident. That investigator reached out to the Special Victims Unit investigator, who was able to confirm that
Abercrombie was, indeed, also responsible for the sexual assault.

Warrants were, then, secured for Abercrombie in connection with both incidents.

https://media.11alive.com/assets/WXIA/images/c474f249-a25e-4b99-a1df-c5d3ab40bd95/c474f249-a25e-4b99-a1df-c5d3ab40bd95_1920x1080.jpg
Credit: Fulton County jail Demetrius J. Abercrombie

Fugitive units were able to locate on Tuesday, June 18 and take him into custody without incident. He has been charged with rape, sodomy, kidnapping, false imprisonment and burglary.

According to Daugherty, Abercrombie has an extensive arrest history, which includes prior charges for rape in 2005 and burglary in 2012.

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/42-year-old-man-charged-with-burglary-rape-of-sw-atlanta-woman/85-b6b63df0-85e3-4dba-b14a-dc2dba9064a4

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https://media.11alive.com/assets/WXIA/images/4a44ae3f-f7dd-4666-afc1-f2458a7c8974/4a44ae3f-f7dd-4666-afc1-f2458a7c8974_1920x1080.jpg
Demetrius Abercrombie

ATLANTA — Atlanta Police and Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta are hoping a newly released sketch will help them find a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her own apartment.

The incident happened on May 31 at Colonial Square Apartments at 2637 Old Hapeville Road, a statement from Crime Stoppers said. The victim told police that the suspect broke into her apartment between 4 and 5 a.m. and sexually assaulted her. Police said
there was no sign of forced entry. They believe the door was unlocked.

The victim said he was wearing a fitted cap with red on the top and white along the brim. He was also wearing a dark shirt, jeans and red and white Nike shoes. The description includes an apparent tattoo on his left arm - though, the design is unknown -
and the fact that he appeared to be missing one or both of his front teeth.

She also told investigators that she learned during the assault that the suspect may have just been released from prison and that he was homeless. That clue has led investigators to cross-reference DNA from the scene with samples from recently released
inmates. Georgia law requires anyone who serves prison time to submit a DNA sample.

As the search continues, patrols in the area have increased and the victim is staying with relatives as she recovers from the attack.

Anyone with information about the suspect or the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477 (TIPS). Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/victim-man-broke-into-her-atlanta-apartment-sexually-assaulted-her/85-1405e500-e7eb-42c7-bc9b-49430fb68e8f

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