OCALA, Fla. — It’s been nearly a month since Ajike Owens, a mother of four children, was shot through a door and killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz.
Since Lorincz was arrested and charged, community leaders in Marion County have demanded that prosecutors up Lorincz’s manslaughter charge to second-degree murder.
Earlier this week, The Office of the State Attorney for Marion County issued a statement stating they were sticking with the manslaughter charge because they didn’t think they could prove necessary evidence of “hatred, spite, ill will, or evil intent toward the victim at the time of the killing.”
“I’m very disappointed,” Tiffany Bess, who has been helping organize demonstrations for AJ Owens, said. “Am I surprised? No.”
Attorney Jeff Swartz weighed in on if he thought prosecutors could have been successful with a conviction if they charged Lorincz with murder instead of manslaughter.
“Not only do I think they could, I was surprised that they did not,” he said. “This is a woman who fires a gun through a door and kills someone, and to me, that fits the definition of second-degree murder.”
Swartz is a tenured professor at WMU-Cooley Law School and has been an assistant state attorney, criminal defense attorney, and county court judge throughout his career.
He said prosecutors could have started with the murder charge, and if a jury wanted something lesser, that would be an option.
“If he starts with manslaughter and they get the lesser charge of negligent homicide, then under those circumstances, they get a misdemeanor, it’s not even a felony,” Swartz said. “So I don’t understand the thought process of reducing the charge when you have all the elements of second-degree murder facing you.”
For now, Swartz said prosecutors still have the opportunity to chance to go for the stiffer charge, something advocates like Tiffany Bess will continue to call for.
The precedent that is being set is that Black lives don’t matter here in Marion County,” Bess said.
Leaders from the group Justice for Ajike “AJ” Owens said they will continue to demand that prosecutors amend the charges.