OCALA, Fla. — Friends and family of an Ocala woman are still grieving her death, the result of a deadly neighborhood quarrel in June.
Police say AJ Owens was shot and killed when she confronted a neighbor who’d thrown a skate at her child.
Last week, that neighbor, Susan Lorincz, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges for firing her gun through her locked front door.
Those closest to AJ Owens told First Coast News the story they say you haven’t heard.
The family says there has not been not enough attention paid to the racial implications of the shooting and AJ’s legacy as a mother of 4.
“Walking in AJ’s shoes, she did nothing wrong here,” said Anthony Thomas, family’s attorney.
Owens’ death has been covered by national and local media over the last month.
Her family’s attorney says what is often overlooked is that she did what any mother would have done.
“I think if she were a white woman, we wouldn’t ask certain questions about her and her behavior,” said Takema Robinson, AJ’s family representative.
Owens, a 35-year-old Black mother of four, raised her kids in an Ocala neighborhood. Her family wrote on a GOFUNDME account that she loved her children, ages 3, 8, 9, and 12 -- and was a team mom for football and cheerleading.
On June 2, a years-long dispute with a neighbor reached a boiling point. According to witnesses, Susan Lorincz yelled at AJs children and threw something at one of them. When Owens knocked on her door, she was shot in front of her 9-year-old son.
“We have to talk about the impact on these children’s lives because we are now looking at manslaughter with a firearms charge… which would get a maximum of thirty years,” said Robinson.
After failing to persuade state prosecutors to charge Lorincz with second degree murder, the Owens family now hopes the federal government will prosecute her for hate crimes
“There is a racial component to this case that we think needs to be brought out,” said Thomas.
AJ’s family says as a mother, her behavior was typical.
“I would really like to hear the media talk a little bit more about AJ as a mother or parent who did what any mother or parent would do… regardless of race… to protect their child,” said Robinson.
The family doesn’t want her personality lost in the conversation.
Family says she was a devoted Christian who helped other single moms in need.
Both aspects of her personality her four children won’t get to experience into adulthood.
“We really need to humanize AJ and her children and the loss and impact of Susan’s actions on their lives forever,” said Robinson.
Robinson says the children are in therapy and they are living with other family members outside of the neighborhood as this story continues to unfold.
Lorincz will be back in court November 1.