After learning that the woman who shot a Black mother of four in Florida won’t be charged with murder, Rev. Al Sharpton is calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Ajike Owens’ shooting death as a federal hate crime.
Although the evidence wasn’t sufficient enough to charge Susan Lorincz with murder, a state prosecutor did file a felony manslaughter charge against the 58-year-old woman, a move that “deeply disappointed” Owens’ family and prompted Sharpton’s call to the DOJ to intervene.
Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, was shot and killed earlier this month in Ocala, Florida after confronting her neighbor, Lorincz, for throwing a rollerskate at one of her kids and calling her children racial slurs as they were playing in a field beside her apartment.
The result of that confrontation ended with Owens’ death after Lorincz shot her through the door of her own apartment instead of answering Owens when she came to meet her. Owens’ 10-year-old son was standing right beside her when she was shot.
The family has demanded Lorincz be charged with second-degree murder, at least since her arrest, but Florida’s state attorney William Gladson only brought forth a first-degree manslaughter charge.
Gladson indicated that his reasoning for not upgrading the charge had to do with the lack of evidence to effectively demonstrate that Lorincz had a depraved mind. No matter how reckless or impulsive her actions were, proof of a depraved mind is a key factor in making a case for murder.
“Depraved mind requires evidence of hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent toward the victim at the time of the killing. Given the facts in this case, aiming a firearm at the door, and pulling the trigger is legally insufficient to prove depraved mind,” he said. “As deplorable as the defendant’s actions were in this case, there is insufficient evidence to prove this specific and required element of second-degree…
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