OCALA, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida woman convicted of shooting and killing her neighbor is now threatening to file a lawsuit against the victim’s children.
The jury reaches a verdict in the trial of Susan Lorincz, charged with manslaughter and assault in the June 2023 shooting death of Ajike Owens. (Court TV)
A jury found Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter after she shot Ajike Owens through her locked front door, killing her in June 2023. Lorincz was sentenced to 25 years in prison and has maintained that she was the victim of harassment from Owens and Owens’ children. The neighborhood drama was showcased in the Netflix documentary, “The Perfect Neighbor.”
Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both Lorincz and the owner of the quadplex where she lived. The suit says that Charles Gabbard, who owned the property, should have known that Lorincz had “a propensity for gross negligence and/or intentional harm.”
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In a handwritten letter filed with the court, Lorincz responds to allegations in the lawsuit and reiterates her accusations that Owens and her children were the aggressors, citing multiple “no trespassing” signs on her property. Lorincz claims that Owens’ children “would come over to my apartment and do ‘Ding Dong Ditch,’ which is when the children knock on your door and run away.”
Lorincz says in the letter that she wants to “countersue for slander, libel and defamation of character for damages that exceed $50,000” against Owens’ mother, minor children and Gabbard. Lorincz’s letter says Gabbard failed to secure the property correctly and allowed the victim and her children to harass her.
Lorincz closes the letter by writing, “Completion of fact and expert discovery to follow.”
Court records do not list any attorney for Lorincz in the civil case. No hearing dates have been set.
