A Florida jury deliberated for less than 3 hours before finding Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter in the death of Ajike "AJ" Shantrell Owens.

A white woman who fatally shot her Black neighbor through a locked door amid a neighborhood feud in Florida has been convicted by a jury of manslaughter.

The jury took less than three hours Friday to find 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty in the death of Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, a 35-year-old single mother who was shot once in the right side of her chest with a .380-caliber handgun while standing outside Lorincz’s front door in June 2023. Owens’ death drew national attention and put a new spotlight on race, gun violence and Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law.

The defense team offered no comment after the verdict, citing respect for the victim’s family. In a news conference outside the courthouse, Anthony Thomas, an attorney representing Owens’ family, called on Circuit Judge Robert Hodges to impose the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

  • finley@lemm.eeEnglish
    51·
    3 months ago

    Manslaughter is a charge for one person killing another, although not necessarily on purpose— in this case, the offender shot through a door, killing the victim, however it can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the offender intended to kill the victim.

    The offender was charged with Felony Manslaughter, which is both very serious and carries a much longer sentence than misdemeanor manslaughter, and is, basically, what prosecutors use when they can’t prove intent, a critical criterion for a murder conviction.

    • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
      14·
      3 months ago

      I read “manslaughter” in the NZ sense and was like WTF, how is this not murder.

      Here manslaughter is a much lesser charge.

      • finley@lemm.eeEnglish
        19·
        3 months ago

        I get that.

        Manslaughter is treated differently in every jurisdiction in the US, but the level of Manslaughter that the offender was changed and convicted with is legally adjacent to a murder charge. It’s just that the prosecutor didn’t believe that they could prove - beyond a reasonable doubt - that the offender actually intended to kill the victim rather than, say, frightening them or, perhaps, injuring them. So they went for a charge that they knew they could prove in court.

        Colloquially speaking, this person murdered the other, no doubt. But what could be proven in court, given the evidence, was a degree of manslaughter.