TV20 Exclusive: Susan Lorincz interviewed behind bars on killing of AJ Owens; ‘I can’t take it back’
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (WCJB) - In a TV20 exclusive, Susan Lorincz, 61, sat down with Robert Bradfield to discuss her conviction of manslaughter in the shooting death of Ajike Owens, 35, in Ocala in 2023.
The case drew national headlines and protests, with people calling for Lorincz’s arrest. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lorincz several days later.
She was convicted in August 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison in November 2024. She is serving her time at the Homestead Correctional Institution in South Florida.
Lorincz described the moments before the shooting, “There were three boys, and they were very close to my sidewalk, and they had their skates around and stuff. I had fallen over a skate, and I said, ‘Guys pick up your skates,’ and they’re like, ‘No.’ And I said, ‘Kids, pick up your skates and please leave. You’re trespassing. You know you’re trespassing,’ and the kid said, ‘I’m going to kill you. If I can’t kill you, I’m going to find someone to kill you.’”
After using her bathroom, Lorincz says she heard banging on the door, believing it was the sheriff’s office. “As soon as I said, ‘One minute,’ she went on the tirade, expletives and just horrible language, screaming at me, pounding on the door so hard. I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ I’m like, ‘You need to leave. You’re trespassing. You were told not to come here by the sheriff’s department. You know, you’re trespassing. You need to leave.’ Then she said, ‘I’m gonna f’ing kill you.’ And I went, ‘Oh my God,’ and she’s pounding and she’s pounding and she’s pounding, and I just, you know, I was terrified.”
Lorincz fired one shot through her front door, striking Owens. Lorincz was questioned twice by Marion County detectives and was later arrested and initially charged with manslaughter, culpable negligence, and two counts of assault. The charges, other than manslaughter, were later dropped.
When asked if Lorincz was capable of manslaughter, she responded, “No. It just makes me sick. I just never, ever thought in a million years this would happen, and it just, it breaks my heart. I can’t take it back. I can’t replace her.”
TV20 reached out to the State Attorney’s Office for comment and was sent this statement:
Lorincz’s public defender, Amanda Sizemore, also told TV20 she did not have a comment.
Owens’ family also did not give TV20 a comment, but Pamela Dias, Owens’ mother, told TV at the time of Lorincz’s sentencing, “Susan’s apology was a last-ditch attempt to save herself. It wasn’t sincere; she never showed remorse.”
Owens’ family also started a non-profit, Standing in the Gap Fund, which raises money for families impacted by gun violence.
TV20 spoke with Dias in June, who told us, “It’s healing. It relieves some of the stress, some of the burden I carry in my heart knowing I can be a support system to someone in need because I know firsthand how it feels and to know that I am doing something. It’s never going to take away the pain or the grief, but it’s going to help families where they have one less thing to worry about.”
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