Black mother shot to death in front of child by white neighbour spurs calls for justice
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Ocala: Civil rights leaders and ministers demanded justice for a black mother who was fatally shot in front of her 9-year-old son by a white neighbour firing through the door of her central Florida home.
During a memorial service on Monday, Ajike Owens was remembered for her deep faith and devotion to her children.
A poster of Ajike Owens held by a protester at Marion County Courthouse in Florida.Credit: AP
At the three-hour church service in Ocala, Florida, the Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and others connected Owens’ death to the killings of other Americans in recent years, such as Trayvon Martin by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in Florida and George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.
“You can’t kill our loved ones, just because of the colour of their skin, just because they were living while black,” Crump said. “We cannot let them kill our loved ones for just knocking on a door, for loving their children, while black.”
Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four who went by the nickname “AJ,” was killed June 2 in Ocala, about 133 kilometres north of Orlando. Her neighbour, Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, has been charged with the first-degree felony of manslaughter with a firearm, as well as culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault.
Susan Lorincz, after her arrest in Ocala, Florida.Credit: AP
Neighbours said Lorincz frequently called neighbourhood children who played outside her home racial slurs and antagonised them, and that’s what happened 10 days ago when she yelled at Owens’ children as they played nearby and threw a pair of skates that hit one of them, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Lorincz told investigators that she acted in self-defence, and that Owens had been trying to break down her door before Lorincz fired the gun.
But Sheriff Billy Woods said last week that the investigation, which included eyewitness statements, established that Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law.
Before Lorincz’s arrest, the sheriff had said that because of Florida’s “stand your ground” law, he couldn’t make an arrest unless he could prove the shooter did not act in self-defence.
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.
“We are going to stand our ground for the humanity of AJ,” Crump said. “We are going to stand our ground for justice for AJ.”
Mourners gather for a remembrance service at Immerse Church of Ocala for Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida.Credit: AP
Both Crump and Sharpton urged Owens’ children not to blame themselves in any way for what happened.
“Your mother chose to stand in danger’s way for you,” Sharpton said. “That’s what mothers do. That is why we celebrate your mother.”
Sharpton criticised Florida’s Republican political leaders for saying little about the case.
Sharpton, a former candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, took particular aim at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who recently launched his own campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
DeSantis has championed sending immigrants from Texas to Democratic-leaning states and signed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws that spurred the most prominent gay rights group in the US and other civil rights organisations to issue warnings the Sunshine State may no longer be safe.
“You get outraged about migrants coming to Texas. You get outraged about those that have a different lifestyle,” Sharpton said. “But I’ve been checking my Google, I can’t find out: Does DeSantis have laryngitis?”
On a pulpit bedecked with pink and lavender flowers, relatives and friends described Owens as a woman of deep faith, who made sure her children were baptised, and she regularly attended church, sometimes dragging along a less-than-willing relative.
Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, has said she will now raise her four young grandchildren, ranging in age from 3 to 12. They were promised scholarships by local ministers to historically black colleges in Florida during the memorial service.
“Please don’t let our baby daughter’s death be in vain,” Dias said. “A change must come.”
AP
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