A white Florida woman on trial for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of her Black neighbor after a lengthy feud said Thursday she will not take the witness stand in her own defense as testimony wrapped up.
Susan Lorincz told Marion County Circuit Judge Robert W. Hodges that she opted not to testify after consulting her lawyers, adding that she was not coerced into the decision.
“I am not going to testify,” Lorincz said.
“You’ve made that decision freely and voluntarily?” the judge asked.
“Yes I have,” she replied.
With that, the defense rested after calling three expert witnesses on ballistics and crime scenes. Prosecutors finished their case Wednesday. Lorincz, 60, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted in the June 2023 shooting 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens, her neighbor in Ocala, Florida.
The two had a long-running dispute over Owens’ children — she was a mother of four — playing boisterously near Lorincz’s home. The night she was shot, Owens had been pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling loudly after Lorincz allegedly threw roller skates and an umbrella at the kids, testimony showed. Lorincz fired one round from her .380-caliber handgun through the door, hitting Owens in the chest and killing her.