In Florida, after an argument over a disagreement between her and the child’s neighbor, a Black single mother shot dead her white neighbor behind a closed front door.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of trespassing on Friday, when they arrived on the scene they found Ajike “AJ” Owens suffering from a gunshot wound, according to Sheriff Billy Woods. Owens died after they tried to revive him, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Press conference Monday.
“She had a smile that would light up the room. But most of all, she was known for how much she loved and absolutely lived for her four children,” Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, wrote on her GoFundMe page. “To say she loved her children unconditionally is an understatement. She was a single mother whose life centered around her children.”
Earlier that evening, Owens’ children were playing outside next to their apartment complex when the unidentified 58-year-old female neighbor allegedly started yelling at them for being on her property and reportedly began calling them racial slurs, According to a press release from the family’s attorney.
The attorneys claimed that the child who was supposed to have taken the iPad had forgotten it. Sheriff Woods said that when the child returned to retrieve the iPad, the neighbor allegedly hurled a pair skates in his direction.
The sheriff stated that after Owens’ children told her what had happened, she spoke to her neighbor at her home.
Attorneys said that following a confrontation in which the neighbour kept the door closed, he shot the neighbor through the window, striking and killing Owens, while her son was standing next to her.
No arrest has been made in her killing, due to the “stand your ground law” in Florida, according to Sheriff Woods.
The “stand your ground law” recently came under fire after the shooting of 17-year-old Ralph Yarl who mistakenly rang the wrong doorbell when attempting to pick up his younger siblings in Missouri. The shooter of Ralph Yarl was not arrested immediately and was then released pending a further investigation.
“Anytime that we think or perceive or believe that that [law] might come into play, we cannot make an arrest,” Sheriff Woods said as to why no arrest in Owens’ death had been made yet. “We have to rule out whether this deadly force was justified or not before we can even make an arrest.”
Dias wrote on the fundraising page the dangers of how this law protects people that use deadly force as self-defense, saying, “this is yet another instance where the law could potentially come into play and erode justice.”
Sheriff Woods said during the press conference Monday that they have interviewed the neighbor and she is cooperating but wouldn’t comment further on her interviews.
“I wish our shooter would’ve called us instead of taking actions into her own hands. I wish Ms. Owens would have called us,” said Sheriff Woods.
The sheriff also said that this confrontation wasn’t the first dispute between the neighbors. According to records kept by the sheriff, both neighbors have made multiple 911 calls since 2021. Usually, these were about children.
Sheriff says the children play a vital role in this case but that they haven’t been interviewed because of the traumatizing death their mother experienced. Sheriff says they’ll be interviewing the children with specialists in order to better understand what occurred.
Dias Tell them to get on with it MSNBC reported that the mother will relocate to Florida in order to take care of the children and continue the life their mother wanted them to have.