OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida jury will determine whether a 60-year-old white woman was justified when she fired through the door of her central Florida apartment a year ago, killing a Black mother during an ongoing dispute over neighborhood children.
In opening statements on Tuesday, jurors were told that shortly before Ajike “A.J.” Owens was killed on June 2, 2023, the children had been playing in a small field outside the apartment where Susan Lorincz lived in Ocala, which is 80 miles (128 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in central Florida.
Lorincz told investigators that the children were running and yelling outside her apartment. She went outside, saw some skates on the ground and threw them at the children.
She went back inside her apartment, defense attorney Morris Carranza told jurors.
Owens, who was the mother of several of the children and who lived across the street, went to Lorincz's apartment to confront her. Owens was apparently angry at how Lorincz dealt with the children, lawyers said in opening statements.
Owens banged loudly on her door, Carranza said.
“A.J. was pounding, and she was cursing,” Carranza said during opening statements. He said that Owens had threatened his client, and she feared the woman would break the door down.
He said Lorincz was standing a few feet from the front door, beside her table as the pounding on the door continued.
Prosecutors said the door was locked and told jurors that Owens was not armed.
Carranza argued that Lorincz was fearful that Owens would harm her.
She believed “in her mind, in her soul and in her core that she had no choice” but to fire one round from her .380-caliber handgun, her attorney told the jury.
Yvonne Costa, who lived in the apartment that shared a wall with Lorincz, testified Tuesday that she heard loud voices shortly before the shooting, but she couldn't understand what was being said.
Then the pounding started. It was loud, she testified.
“The wall in between our two apartments started shaking,” Costa said. “It was very loud. And it scared me.”
She testified she then heard a loud pop, followed by more screaming. She ran to her bedroom to call 911.
Witnesses said that Owens stumbled from the porch, and she yelled for someone to call 911 before falling to the ground.
Lorincz is charged with manslaughter and faces up to 30 years in prison.
State Attorney William Gladson has said his office contemplated filing a second-degree murder charge but that prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence that Lorincz had “hatred, spite, ill will or evil intent” toward Owens.
Both the state and defense attorneys convene at the bench as Judge Robert Hodges holds a side bar during Susan Lorincz's trial Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Ocala, Fla. Lorincz is charged with manslaughter in the June 2023 shooting of her neighbor Ajike “A.J.” Owens. (Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Pool)
Defendant Susan Lorincz takes notes during her trial Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Ocala, Fla. Lorincz is charged with manslaughter in the June 2023 shooting of her neighbor Ajike “A.J.” Owens. (Doug Engle/Ocala Star-Banner via AP, Pool)
FILE - In this image taken from video provided by the Marion County Sheriff's Office, Susan Lorincz, center, is escorted by law enforcement following her arrest in Ocala, Fla., Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Lorincz is accused of fatally shooting her neighbor, Ajike Owens, a Black mother of four. (Marion County Sheriff's Office via AP)
FILE - A protester holds a poster of Ajike Owens and demands the arrest of a woman who killed her during a rally at the Marion County Courthouse, June 6, 2023, in Ocala, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Denny Hamlin took the lead coming out of the pits before a final overtime finish and held off William Byron to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.
Hamlin won for a second straight week after his success at Martinsville and for the fifth time overall at Darlington, the most of any current driver.
Hamlin chose the outside lane for a final restart and shot out to the lead and pulled away from series points leader Byron and NASCAR wins leader Christopher Bell.
Hamlin looked like he'd have a strong finish, but not a winning one as Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick for the lead with three laps left. But moments later, Kyle Larson spun out forcing a final caution and the extra laps.
It was then time for Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew to shine as it got him out quickly and in the lead.
Byron, who led the first 243 laps, was second with Hamlin's JGR teammate Bell in third.
“There are two people I really love right now, my pit crew and Kyle Larson,” Hamlin said to a round of boos from those in the stands.
Reddick was fourth and Blaney was fifth. The rest of the top 10 finishers were Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch.
Hamlin credited the past two victories to his pit crew.
“The pit crew just did an amazing job,” he said. “They won it last week, they won it this week. It's all about them.”
Blaney had thought he was clear to his first-ever Darlington victory after getting by Reddick late. When he saw the caution flag for Larson's spin, he said he thought, “Oh, no! I thought we had the race won."
So did Byron, who sought was to become the first NASCAR driver in nearly 25 years to lead every lap on the way to victory. He got shuffled down the standings during the last round of green-flag pit stops and could not recover.
“It was looking like it was going to be a perfect race and we were going to lead every lap,” he said.
But once “we lost control, it was too late to get back up there,” Byron said.
Kyle Larson, who won the Southern 500 here in 2023, had high hopes for a second Darlington win. But he slid into the inside wall coming off the second turn on lap three and went right to garage where his team worked the next couple of hours to get him back on track. Larson returned on lap 164 after falling 161 laps off the pace. Larson finished next to last in 37th.
Greg Biffle, the last NASCAR driver to win consecutive Cup Series victories at Darlington in 2006 and 2007, drove the pace car for the Goodyear 400 on Sunday. Biffle has had an eventful few months, flying rescue missions with his helicopter into areas of the Southeast affected by devastating Hurricane Helene in September.
Biffle was planning a weeklong trip to the Bahamas when his phone started going off about people stranded in parts of Western North Carolina.
“I went to the hangar and the power was out,” Biffle said. “We got the hangar down open with the tug and got the helicopter out. Once I got in the air, I realized what had taken place."
Biffle then flew the next 11 days from “sunup to sundown."
“It was incredible,” Biffle said. “It was pretty tough going for the first week.”
Biffle won the Myers Brothers Humanitarian Award for his work.
The series goes to Bristol on April 13 before taking its traditional Easter break.
AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing
Former driver Greg Biffle checks out the pace car before the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser)
Former driver Greg Biffle poses with the pace car before the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser)
NASCAR crew chief Matt Kelley walks out to pit road before the Goodyear 400, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser)
Fans sign the start/finish line at before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Scott Kinser)
