Crime
A jury has convicted a white Florida woman of fatally shooting her black neighbor during an ongoing dispute.
A white Florida woman was convicted Friday of murder within the shooting death of her black neighbor, after a jury rejected her claims that she fired shots through a metal door in self-defense during an ongoing dispute over children playing in front of her home.
An all-white jury in Ocala, Florida, found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty after deliberating for two.5 hours. Lorincz faces as much as 30 years in prison at sentencing. She claimed she was acting in self-defense when she fired a single shot from a .380-caliber handgun through her front door on June 2, 2023, killing 35-year-old Ajike “AJ” Owens.
The confrontation was the newest in a dispute between the 2 neighbors over Owens’ children playing in a grassy area near their homes. Prosecutors said Owens got here to Lorincz’s home after her children complained she allegedly threw roller skates and an umbrella at them during a prolonged outburst of anger over their noisy play outside.
Lorincz told detectives in a taped interview that she feared for her life as Owens screamed and banged on her door.
“I thought I was in imminent danger,” she said.
Lorincz also said she was harassed for many of the three years she lived in the world.
Family members of the victim burst into tears as Lorincz left the courtroom with deputies. She showed no response or emotion as the decision was announced.
District Judge Robert W. Hodges didn’t immediately set a sentencing date but ordered a background report on Lorincz.
Anthony Thomas, an attorney for the Owens family, said they may push for the utmost sentence of 30 years in prison. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said she found comfort within the guilty verdict.
“We got some justice for Ajike. My heart is a little lighter,” Dias told reporters outside the courthouse. “It’s been a long journey to get to this point, to reach this verdict. I find some peace in this verdict.”
District Attorney William Gladson, whose office prosecuted the case, said it was a “tragic reminder” of the results of gun violence.
“The defendant’s choices left four young children without a mother, a loss they will feel for the rest of their lives,” Gladson said in a statement. “While today’s verdict will not bring AJ back, we hope it brings some measure of justice and peace to her family and friends.”
During closing arguments, prosecutor Rich Buxman said there was no evidence Owens posed an imminent physical threat to Lorincz.
“It’s not a crime to bang on someone’s door. It’s not a crime to yell,” Buxman told jurors. “There was no imminent threat when she fired that gun.”
Lorincz’s attorney responded that she was terrified by Owens’s aggressive actions and had the precise to fireplace her weapon under Florida’s “stand and fight” law. An autopsy revealed that Owens weighed about 290 kilos (130 kilograms), making her significantly larger and younger than Lorincz, and the 2 had had prior confrontations.
“She can defend herself,” said Amanda Sizemore, an assistant public defender. “She had a split second to decide whether to fire her weapon.”
Lorincz didn’t testify, but said in an interview with detectives that was played for jurors that she never intended to harm Owens. Still, in a single 911 call, Lorincz told a dispatcher, “I’m sick and tired of these kids.”
“She wasn’t scared. She was angry,” Buxman said.
Owens’ family expressed surprise that no black jurors were chosen for the trial, given the racially sensitive nature of the case. Protests erupted within the black community when prosecutors took weeks to accuse Lorincz of murderwhich is a less severe charge than second-degree murder, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment.
The district court clerk’s office said in an email that eight black people were among the many 70 people within the initial group of jurors. There were 49 white jurors, while 10 were listed as Latino, two as Asian and one as “other,” the clerk’s office said, based on documents provided by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Ocala is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in central Florida. Marion County’s black population is about 12 percent, in line with census data.
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New York authorities have identified 26-year-old Luigi Mangione as an individual of interest in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
According to police, a McDonald’s worker recognized Mangione in a photograph taken by NYPD Crime Stoppers and called authorities to report that he was eating at the restaurant, which led to his arrest.
Police say Mangione was carrying an anti-corporate manifesto, false identification and a ghost gun.
“It fits the description we were looking for,” Mayor Eric Adams said. An early NYPD report drew criticism online for calling the suspect a “light-skinned male” fairly than simply saying he was white.
The New York Post reports that Mangione previously attended the University of Pennsylvania, was valedictorian of the highschool in 2016 and had ties to Towson, Maryland. His social media posts indicate motivation related to dissatisfaction with the health care industry.
The shooting gained national attention because of the lukewarm response to Thompson’s death from many voters, who criticized the high insurance denial rate and greed that contributed to the American loss of life.
NYPD officers will now travel to Pennsylvania to query Mangione. Watch the entire press conference below:
Iroc Avelli, OJ Simpson’s former bodyguard, claimed to have a recording of the late NFL player admitting to killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. According to .evaluation of the audio recording showed the claim to be false.
In June 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) contacted the Bloomington, Minnesota police department to realize access to thumb drives confiscated during Avelli’s 2022 arrest.
Bloomington Police Department arrested Avelli for alleged assault in 2022; upon arrest, the police seized Avelli’s backpack and obtained an order to gather relevant evidence on the scene. The backpack contained multiple flash drives that the previous security guard said contained Simpson’s confessions.
According to Peasant! News“search warrant filed in Hennepin County requested by Officer George Harms seek for image pendrives in order that “a full forensic examination could possibly be carried out on all of the pendrives to acquire the recording.”
The Bloomington Police Department didn’t return the drives, opting as an alternative to conduct an internal forensic examination. After a digital forensics specialist examined the drives, Bloomington police didn’t disclose any information of “probative value” to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The further investigation into the Simpson and Goldman murders is strange because on October 3, 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted of all charges. The former San Francisco 49er maintained his innocence until his death from cancer on April 11, 2024.
After his acquittal, OJ Simpson continued to benefit from his fame. In 1996, the Buffalo Bills player published a book titled If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer. Many found the book’s title and content distasteful and criticized it Naked weapon the actor’s constant presence in celebrity culture.
However, many individuals imagine that Simpson’s acquittal ought to be enough to just accept his presence in all spaces. BLACK ENTERPRISES reports on rapper Cam’Ron’s response to criticism after Simpson was invited on his sports show before his death.
The It is what it’s the host and businessman believes that the accusations – proven in court – shouldn’t result in ostracization. Cam’Ron believes that Simpson’s race may have played a job in continuously questioning his innocence throughout his life.
“Look, if he was guilty, we wouldn’t have him on the show,” he said. “You wish to proceed convicting an innocent man. He is innocent. If it was another person, whiter, you’d all say, “Oh, he’s innocent.” TO BE reported.
It appears that the hearings and investigation into Orenthol James Simpson’s role, or lack thereof, in his ex-wife’s murder will proceed even after his death.
Tatisha Refuge, a 47-year-old New Orleans resident, turned herself in to authorities after the death of 3-year-old Rudy Ratliff. Refuge is charged with “manslaughter by negligence.”
Rudy’s mother, Leshawn Ratliff, lives in Texas but visited Refuge, her foster mother, in the previous few days of Thanksgiving. Nov 8 News.
“I came here on Saturday to pick up my older son. He was here over Thanksgiving break, and I came down on Saturday to pick him up so we could go home on Sunday and they could go back to school on Monday.” Ratliff he said.
While playing UNO, Refuge’s unsecured gun fell from her belt and fired, striking Rudy. Ratliff she recounted how the scene unfolded when she discovered Rudy had been shot.
“I began seeing blood coming out of his chest. That’s once I knew he had been shot. So I called 911.
The mother didn’t wish to wait for 911. Instead, she decided to take Rudy to University Medical Center for treatment. She said that after they arrived at the ability, Rudy seemed to be alive. Unfortunately, 20 minutes later she was informed of his death.
Tatisha Refuge has been charged with negligent homicide within the shooting death of 3-year-old Rudy Ratliff. #Khou11 @AmandaHTV
https://t.co/BFIeGhAHYG— KHOU 11 Houston News (@KHOU) December 4, 2024
Ratliff she nurtured her relationship with Refuge and is torn now that the accusations involve her foster mother.
“It was a random shooting. His grandfather’s gun fell. It wasn’t within the secure. It wasn’t within the gun position. I believe it went into the pocket and fell out and shot my son,” Ratliff said. “I understand it was a mistake. I imagine in my heart that it was a mistake. I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand.
The grieving mother began a GoFundMe and is asking the general public for help with Rudy’s burial. To support the Ratliff family of their time of need, click here.
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