Austin L. MillerOcala Star-Banner
Show Caption
Opening statements in the Susan Lorincz manslaughter trial focused on a question: Did Lorincz shoot and kill Ajike "AJ" Shantrell Owens in self defense?
Prosecutors say no. Assistant State Attorney Adam Smith told the court and jury on Tuesday that Lorincz shot Owens through a locked front door. Owens was unarmed.
Smith said Lorincz was not in fear at the time she shot and killed Owens. In fact, she earlier had encouraged Owens' children to tell their mother that Lorincz had scolded them for being too loud and playing in what Lorincz considered an unauthorized area. And Lorincz had called 911 and knew law enforcement was on the way.
But the defense told the court and jury that Lorincz did act out of fear that day.
Assistant Public Defender Morris Carranza said Owens violently pounded on Lorincz's front door. Lorincz, 60, thought it was going to break. Lorincz felt she was going to be harmed because Owens, 35, was taller, younger and weighed more than her.
The lawyer played a recording of the 911 call Lorincz made after the shooting. She can be heard crying and telling a dispatcher that someone tried breaking her door and she fired a gunshot. Lorincz identified the person she shot as Owens. The lawyer said his client was shaking, quivering and afraid during the episode.
Lorincz, 60, is charged with manslaughter with a firearm. She has pleaded not guilty. Her trial started Monday with jury selection and is expected to last all week. She could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted as charged.
Owens, who was Black, was a single mother with four children ages 4 through 13. Lorincz, who is white, is accused of using racial slurs when scolding Owens' children.
Smith and Rich Buxman are the prosecutors. Amanda Sizemore and Frances Watson are working with Carranza on the defense. Circuit Judge Robert Hodges is presiding.
Prosecutor Smith said the neighborhood where Lorincz and Owens lived has an open field close to Lorincz's residence. The women had argued in the past about Owens' children, but the prosecutor said their dispute had been settled.
On the day of the shooting some children, including Owens' children, were playing in the field and Lorincz was filming them. The prosecutor said Lorincz threw roller skates at the children and later waved an umbrella at them.
Lorincz complained about the children screaming, yelling and playing on the field, and claimed she was physically threatened. Smith said when Owens heard what happened, she went over Lorincz's residence, not armed, and banged on the door. That's when she was shot.
The prosecutor said Owens didn't try to break down the door. He said Lorincz admits to shooting Owens and deputies recovered the .380-caliber handgun in a trash can in Lornicz's bathroom.
Defense attorney Carranza said Lorincz has multiple physical ailments including bad knees. She has undergone spinal surgery and survived ovarian cancer. She lived alone and bought a gun for protection.
He said Lorincz worked several jobs. She moved here from New Jersey because she loved horses. At the time of the move Lorincz's mother lived in Hernando, but she later died, the lawyer said.
On the day of the shooting, he said, Lorincz heard a loud banging on her door and thought it was law enforcement. When the banging continued, Carranza said, Lorincz became scared and grabbed her firearm. He said she stood several feet behind the door and fired a shot to save her life.
The lawyer said the pounding and Owens' screams could be heard a football field away. The noise scared at least one neighbor.
The state calls its first witnesses
After opening statements, the state called several witnesses. Smith and Buxman took turns questioning the witnesses. Sizemore and Carranza handled cross-examination.
One witness was Franklin Colon, a neighbor, who said he played with the children in the vacant lot. He said the children would sometimes get loud. Colon said Lorincz didn't like the children playing there. Though the vacant lot was near Lorincz's residence, she did not own the property.
Colon said that on the day of the shooting he left the children playing outside and went to his residence. He said he heard something that sounded like a firecracker. He said his son came and told him what had happened.
A 13-year-old boy told the jury he knew Owens and played with two of her children. The boy said he saw Owens walking toward Lorincz's residence that night and she looked mad.
He said Owens banged on the door. Asked if Owens reached for the door handle, he said no. Asked if he heard Owens saying she was going to kill Lorincz, he said no again.
Asked by the defense if Owens was really mad, the child said he did not remember.
Another neighbor, Yvonne Costa, said she heard loud banging. She said the noise scared her and it was really loud. She said the walls were shaking.
Day 1 trial coverage: Jury selected for Susan Lorincz, charged in shooting death of her Ocala neighbor
The judge ended the morning session close to noon for lunch and said court would resume at 1 p.m.
A prior confrontation between Lorincz and Owens
A second juvenile, a 12-year-old girl, told the jury she likes playing football. She lived next to Owens' residence and knew the woman's children.
The girl said she was playing in the open field before the shooting. She said she went inside and not long after heard a noise. The girl said there was a knock on her door. When she looked outside, she saw two of Owens' children running.
The girl testified that, on a previous occasion, she had seen Owens and Lorincz arguing. At that time, she saw Owens toss a "no trespassing" sign at Lorincz.
On cross-examination, the girl testified that the sign hit Lorincz in the lower leg.
A sheriff's deputy responded to the neighborhood after that confrontation. On Tuesday, the deputy testified that the plastic sign did not injure Lorincz. No one was arrested.
Testimony about the night of the shooting and about the front door
Through witness testimony, the prosecution established that Owens was shot in the upper right chest and that there were no weapons around her or in her possession. Owens was taken to a local hospital, where she died.
One deputy described the shooting scene as complete chaos, though Lorincz surrendered peacefully to deputies.
Questions about Lorincz's front door were raised. A crime scene technician from the sheriff's office said neither the door nor a sliding glass door had any damage, dents or scrapes.
The landlord and owner of a portion of the complex where Lorincz or Owens lived told the court he could not tell the children not to play on the vacant property because he wasn't the owner. He said Lorincz told him to put "no trespass" and "keep off the grass" signs closer to her piece of land, which he did.
As for the door, he said made some repairs to it, approximately four to six weeks before the shooting, and it was sturdy and structurally sound.
On cross-examination, the landlord said there was a deep crack in the door and the repairs were temporary.
Testimony concluded for the day shortly after 4 p.m. The lawyers are expected to return Wednesday, when the state might rest its case, giving the defense an opportunity to present.
Contact Austin L. Miller ataustin.miller@starbanner.com
