A woman has been arrested in connection with the death of Ajike “AJ” Owens, the Black mother who was fatally shot last week in central Florida after knocking on a neighbor’s door, CNN reports. Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, was arrested on charges of manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. Lorincz, who is White, was taken into custody Tuesday nigh. Authorities say Owens was shot through the door of her neighbor’s home near Ocala, Fla., on Friday. Her family accused Lorincz of yelling at Owens’ children and calling them racial slurs before the shooting.
Lorincz claimed that she acted in self defense and that Owens had been trying to break down her door prior to her discharging her firearm. Lorincz also said Owens had come after her in the past and had previously attacked her. “Through their investigation – including obtaining the statements of eyewitnesses who only came forward as late as yesterday – detectives were able to establish that Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law,” the sheriff’s office said. Sheriff Billy Woods said investigators had to consider Florida’s “stand your ground” law before making an arrest. The statute allows people to respond with deadly force if they reasonably believe they are being threatened with death or serious injury, and says they don’t have to retreat if they’re “not engaged in a criminal activity and … in a place where he or she has a right to be.” Owens knocked on Lorincz’s door to confront her after the she threw a pair of skates at her children, hitting at least one of them. One witness said children were playing in a nearby field before the shooting and a dispute ensued as the neighbor picked up an electronic tablet that one of the children left on the ground