Florida Woman Susan Lorincz Sentenced to 25 Years After Fatally Shooting Her Neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens Through a Locked Door in 2023
It was a story that stunned the nation — a neighborhood feud that spiraled into tragedy. In June 2023, a 35-year-old mother of four, Ajike “AJ” Owens, was shot and killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz, in Ocala, Florida. The two women had clashed for years over the simplest of things: children playing in the neighborhood. But one evening, it ended with a gunshot through a locked front door — and a family’s life forever changed.
Authorities said that Owens had gone to Lorincz’s home to confront her after one of her children was reportedly hit by a roller skate that Lorincz had thrown. What happened next would make headlines across America. From behind her locked front door, Lorincz fired a single shot through the wood, striking Owens in the chest. The mother of four collapsed on the doorstep, dying before she could be rushed to the hospital.
Lorincz, a white woman in her late 50s at the time, told investigators she fired out of fear, claiming she believed Owens was trying to break into her home. But prosecutors said the evidence didn’t match her story. Owens was unarmed, and the door remained locked. Neighbors told authorities that the two women had a long history of disputes and that Lorincz had previously used racial slurs toward Owens’ children.
The case quickly drew national attention, not only because of the shocking nature of the shooting but because of what it represented — the intersection of gun laws, racial tension, and neighborhood conflict. Lorincz’s defense attempted to invoke Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, but the court rejected it. Investigators determined that Owens posed no immediate threat, and that firing through a closed door was an unreasonable use of force.
In August 2024, after more than a year of legal proceedings, a Florida jury found Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter with a firearm. Two months later, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Judge Robert Hodges, who handed down the sentence, called the shooting “completely unnecessary.” He said, “This tragedy was avoidable. It should never have happened.”
Lorincz is now serving her sentence at the Homestead Correctional Institution in South Florida. Her earliest possible release date is April 2048, when she will be in her 80s. Her defense team has said she feels deep remorse, but Owens’ family has made clear that no sentence can bring back a mother of four who was just trying to protect her children.
AJ’s mother, Pamela Dias, is now raising her grandchildren. She has spoken publicly about her daughter’s kindness, resilience, and the emptiness left behind. “My daughter didn’t deserve this,” she said. “She knocked on a door — that’s all.”
In 2025, Owens’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lorincz, hoping to secure long-term support for AJ’s children. The case also inspired a Netflix documentary titled The Perfect Neighbor, which explores how the shooting unfolded and the painful aftermath for everyone involved.
Now, more than two years after the tragedy, the once-quiet street in Ocala still bears the scars of that day. Neighbors remember the sounds, the flashing lights, and the disbelief that something so ordinary could turn so deadly. It’s a haunting reminder of how quickly anger and fear can destroy lives — and how one moment of recklessness can echo for decades.
For AJ’s children, life will never be the same. Their mother’s voice, her laughter, and her hugs are memories they carry with them every day. And for Susan Lorincz, the rest of her life will unfold behind prison walls — a sentence that can never undo what one bullet took away.
