Posted by A woman in Ocala, Fla., has been killed after being shot through a door while confronting a neighbor who had thrown an object at her children. The incident is termed complicated by the state’s “stand your ground” law, and authorities have not yet decided on potential charges. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods stated that deputies were called to a trespassing incident, but when they arrived, they found Ajike Owens, 35, with a gunshot wound.
Owens, who was shot through her neighbor’s door, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Now, a woman has been taken into custody in connection to the death.
Police say the woman identified as a white woman, 58, harassed the Black mother and her children and had called them racial slurs before the shooting in Marion County outside Ocala.
Sheriff Woods claimed the confrontation came after “a neighborhood feud over time” and that “there was a lot of aggressiveness” at the door, “whether it be banging on the doors, banging on the walls and threats being made,” although he noted it was an incomplete account. Sheriff Woods did not offer further details, saying his office did not have all the facts and cited an ongoing investigation.
The civil-rights attorney Ben Crump, speaking for the Owens family, had complained in a statement on Facebook that the shooter “HASN’T been arrested or charged with anything by law enforcement for the unjust killing.” Ms. Owens, a Black woman, had gone to the neighboring home to retrieve an iPad her children forgot after playing in a nearby field, and the woman, who is white, took it, Mr. Crump said in the statement.
At a press conference, the family of Ms. Owens, alongside their legal team and community leaders, urged law enforcement to arrest the shooter, stressing her identity was well-known. Ms. Owens’s mother, Pamela Dias, shared that one of her Ajike’s children, a 9-year-old boy, was present when the devastating incident happened. “She was rendered voiceless,” Ms. Dias said. “We are here on her behalf. We are here on behalf of the four kids that are left behind, without a mother.”
The sheriff continued that Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which allows persons to defend themselves with force if they reasonably believe they have been threatened, makes it so that investigators need to rule out “whether deadly force was justified or not before we make an arrest.” Community leaders stood with the sheriff to show their support for the ongoing investigation and called for calm among the residents. Attorneys Mr. Crump and Anthony D. Thomas, representing the family, issued a statement providing their account of the incident.
According to their statement, Ms. Owens’s children were playing in a field near an apartment complex when the shooter confronted them, using racial slurs and demanding they leave her property. In the commotion, the woman threw an item, specifically a pair of skates, at the children, hitting one of them. Upon learning about the incident, Ms. Owens accompanied her children across the street to address the woman. The statement alleges that the woman shot through the door, striking Ms. Owens, who is known as “AJ.”
Sheriff Woods confirmed some aspects of the statement but clarified that other details were inaccurate. He mentioned not having information about the exact number of shots fired. The sheriff also disclosed there had been around “six to eight” previous reports of disputes between the woman and Ms. Owens, primarily related to the children and the area where they played. However, the shooting of Ms. Owens is one among a series of incidents that have sparked discussion about the legal protections granted to individuals who assert self-defense based on perceived threats to their safety.
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