Jury convicts white Florida woman in fatal shooting of her Black neighbor during ongoing dispute

A white Florida woman was convicted Friday of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbor after the jury rejected her claims that she fired through a metal door in self-defense amid an ongoing dispute over children playing outside her home.

The all-white jury in Ocala, Florida, found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation. Lorincz faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing. She had claimed self-defense when she fired a single shot with a .380-caliber handgun through her front door on June 2, 2023, killing 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens.

The confrontation was the latest in a dispute between the two neighbors over Owens' children playing in a grassy area near both of their houses. Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz's home after her children complained that she had allegedly thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them amid a long-running annoyance at their boisterous play outside.

Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life as Owens yelled and pounded on her door.

“I thought I was in imminent danger,” she said.

Lorincz also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she lived in the neighborhood.

The victim’s family members broke down in tears after Lorincz left the courtroom with deputies. She showed no reaction or emotion when the verdict was announced.

Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges did not immediately set a sentencing date but ordered a background report to be done on Lorincz.

Anthony Thomas, an attorney for the Owens family, said they would push for the maximum 30-year prison term. Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, said she took some solace from the guilty verdict.

“We've achieved some justice for Ajike. My heart is a little lighter,” Dias told reporters outside the courthouse. “This has been a long journey to get to this stage, to get to this verdict. I find some peace with that verdict.”

State Attorney William Gladson, whose office prosecuted the case, said it was “a tragic reminder” of the consequences of gun violence.

“The defendant's choices have left four young children without their mother, a loss that will be felt for the rest of their lives,” Gladson said in a statement. “While today's verdict can't bring A.J. back, we hope it brings some measure of justice and peace to her family and friends.”

During closing arguments, prosecutor Rich Buxman had said there was no evidence that Owens posed an imminent physical threat to Lorincz.

“It’s not a crime to bang on somebody’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” Buxman told jurors. “There was no imminent danger whatsoever when she fired that gun.”

A lawyer for Lorincz countered that she was frightened by Owens' aggressive actions and was legally justified in firing her gun under Florida's “stand your ground” law. An autopsy found Owens weighed about 290 pounds (130 kilograms), making her much larger as well as younger than Lorincz, and the two had previous confrontations.

“She can defend herself," said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to make a decision whether or not to fire her weapon.”

Lorincz did not testify but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in one 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I'm just sick of these children.”

“She was not in fear. She was angry,” Buxman said.

Owens’ family has expressed surprise no Black jurors were selected for the trial given the racially sensitive nature of the case. There were protests in the Black community when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder which carries a potential life prison sentence.

The county court clerk’s office said in an email that eight Black people were among the 70 in the initial jury pool. In contrast, 49 were white and 10 were listed as Hispanic, two as Asian and one as “other,” the clerk’s office said, based on records provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Ocala is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County's Black population is about 12%, according to census figures.

Pamela Dias, center, Ajike “A.J.” Owens' mother, breaks down in tears after a jury found Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of her daughter, Friday afternoon, Aug. 16, 2024, in Ocala, Fla. (Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Pool)

Pamela Dias, center, Ajike “A.J.” Owens' mother, is consoled by friends and family outside the courtroom after a jury found Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of her daughter, Friday afternoon, Aug. 16, 2024, in Ocala, Fla. (Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Pool)

Susan Lorincz stands with no emotion after a jury found her guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of Ajike “A.J.” Owens, Friday afternoon, Aug. 16, 2024, in Ocala, Fla. (Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Pool)

FILE - A protester holds a poster of Ajike Owens and demands the arrest of a woman who killed her during a rally at the Marion County Courthouse, June 6, 2023, in Ocala, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

Susan Lorincz, left, listens to testimony during her trial Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 in Judge Robert Hodges' courtroom in Ocala, Fla. as her Defense Attorney Amanda Sizemore also listens. (Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP)

Jury begins deliberations in trial of white Florida woman in fatal shooting of Black neighbor

Jury begins deliberations in trial of white Florida woman in fatal shooting of Black neighbor

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican soldiers and marines have seized over a ton of fentanyl pills in two raids in the north, with officials calling it the biggest catch of the synthetic opioid in the country’s history.

The raids came after a sharp drop in fentanyl seizures in Mexico earlier this year, and days after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico unless those countries cracked down on the flow of migrants and drugs across the border.

Experts say the timing may not be a coincidence.

“It is clear that the Mexican government has been managing the timing of fentanyl seizures,” said security analyst David Saucedo. “But under the pressure by Donald Trump, it appears President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration is willing to the increase the capture of drug traffickers and drug seizures that Washington is demanding.”

Saucedo said it's clear the Mexican government "doesn't see fentanyl as one of its own problems, and fighting it isn't its priority,” He added there would only be big busts “when there is pressure from Washington.”

Mexico’s top security official said soldiers and marines late Tuesday spotted two men carrying guns in the northern state of Sinaloa, home to the drug cartel of the same name.

They chased the men, who ran into two houses. In one house soldiers found about 660 pounds (300 kilograms) of fentanyl, and in the other a truck packed with about 1,750 pounds (800 kilograms) of the drug, mostly in pill form.

“In Sinaloa, we achieved the biggest seizure in history of fentanyl,” Public Safety Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch wrote in his social media accounts. Several guns were also seized and two men were arrested.

President Sheinbaum said Wednesday that “this is an investigation that had been going on for some time, and yesterday it bore fruit."

But that claim contrasts with the seemingly random nature of the bust, which started when a military patrol “noticed the presence of two men carrying what appeared to be guns.”

In the past, Mexican security forces have sometimes used the story of following armed men running into houses as a pretext to enter homes without search warrants. In at least one case, the government version was disproved by security camera footage.

The latest haul was striking because fentanyl seizures in Mexico had fallen dramatically in the first half of the year. At some points during the summer, under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, federal forces reported seizures amounted to as little as 50 grams (2 ounces) per week.

Figures for the first half of 2024 show that Mexican federal forces seized only 286 pounds (130 kilograms) of fentanyl nationwide between January and June, down 94% from the 5,135 pounds (2,329 kilograms) seized in 2023.

The synthetic opioid has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths annually in the United States, and U.S. officials have tried to step up efforts to seize it as it comes over the border, often in the form of counterfeit pills made in Mexico from precursor chemicals largely imported from China.

López Obrador always denied that fentanyl is even produced in Mexico, though experts — and even members of his own administration — acknowledge that it is.

And if Mexico doesn't go after those fentanyl production facilities, then they will still be churning out similar quantities in the future.

“It's a very very big seizure,” Saucedo said. “But if they don't dismantle the labs, this kind of production will continue.”

Also Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced it was increasing the reward for the top leader of another cartel, Nemesio Oseguera, from $10 million to $15 million.

Oseguera, known by his nickname “El Mencho,” leads the Jalisco cartel, which like Sinaloa, is heavily involved in the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamines.

FILE - Mexican military and police patrol in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Urista, File)