Key hearing before trial for woman accused in shooting death of Ocala neighbor

MARION COUNTY, Florida. – A woman charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her Ocala neighbor is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court Friday morning for a potentially crucial hearing.

Susan Lorincz, 59, is accused of shooting and killing Ajike “AJ” Owens, 35, a year ago this week. Owens, a mother of four, allegedly approached Lorincz's home to confront her about throwing a pair of roller skates at her children when she was shot through the front door, according to the prosecutor's office. Marion County Sheriff.

Owens' children — ages 12, 9, 7 and 2 at the time — were at the scene of the shooting when officers arrived.

Earlier this week, the judge gave Lorincz's legal team more time to prepare their defense, with his trial now scheduled for next month. A Marion County court is scheduled to hear motions in limine in the accused shooter's case at 9 a.m. Friday, where attorneys for both sides will discuss evidence expected to be heard at the upcoming trial. Lorincz's attorneys also argue that the state should not be allowed to bring up prior calls to law enforcement that did not involve Owens.

Prosecutors filed a motion to allow past incidents into evidence in which Lorincz called law enforcement, arguing she had a pattern of making derogatory statements toward neighborhood children. The sheriff's office released body-worn camera video last year from those earlier calls, in which Lorincz complains to deputies that she works from home and needs some peace and quiet, while the children were constantly yelling and screaming.

Prior to the shooting, deputies responded to the area more than 10 times since January 2021 for a “neighborhood dispute” between Owens and Lorincz, according to Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods. The sheriff's office said it received about a dozen calls over the course of a year from Lorincz about neighborhood children making noise and trespassing on his property, but officers said the children were actually playing in a common area.

“I have reports that these things happened, they called one way or the other – either the mother (Owens) called or the shooter called to complain about the kids. Now it's children who are children. This is what I want. I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking action into her own hands,” Woods said in 2023.

Prosecutors say the past calls for service are related, but the defense says they are irrelevant and asks the judge to exclude anything that doesn't involve Owens.

Lorincz faces charges of manslaughter with a firearm and assault, according to court records. She claimed self-defense, saying she feared for her life.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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