STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A trial starts in Florida today for a woman who shot her neighbor. Susan Lorincz is charged with manslaughter with a firearm. She pleaded not guilty. Lorincz is white. The neighbor, Ajike Owens, was Black, a single mother of four children. Joe Byrnes, of Central Florida Public Media, has been covering this story. Good morning.
JOE BYRNES, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: What led up to this shooting last year?
BYRNES: Well, Lorincz, who is - she's 60 now, had been feuding with the family for months because the children like to play in an open area near her apartment. That day, she swung an umbrella at the kids and threw a roller skate at one of them. So Ajike Owens, who was known as A.J. - that's their mother. She was 35 - she went over to confront Lorincz and banged on the door, which was bolted. That's when Lorincz shot her through the solid door, striking her once in the chest. She stumbled backwards and collapsed.
INSKEEP: I remember hearing about this case when it happened, and yet when you just recount the narrative, it takes my breath away again.
BYRNES: Yeah.
INSKEEP: But what does Lorincz say about this now that she's been charged?
BYRNES: Well, Lorincz told investigators that she feared for her life. So the sheriff's office began looking into whether it was self-defense under Florida's stand-your-ground law. That's why they didn't arrest her for several days. Steve, that delay and the uncertainty over her arrest - that was shocking to the community. That's what made this a national story. In the end, Lorincz was arrested and is still in the Marion County jail. Owen's family wanted her to face the stiffer charge of second-degree murder. But prosecutors say manslaughter is what they can prove.
INSKEEP: How, if at all, does the difference in race between the two adults involved here factor into this?
BYRNES: Witnesses said Lorincz would sometimes use racial slurs with the children, using the N-word, for instance, calling them slaves. But the Court has actually excluded any evidence related to the racial slurs. So jurors won't hear about that. Owen's mom, Pamela Dias, doesn't agree with that. Here's what she told me when I sat down with her on Saturday.
PAMELA DIAS: It really doesn't make sense to me. Racism is key and paramount to me, in this case. There was a long history of racial slurs. And that's how this whole ordeal started.
BYRNES: Without that evidence, she thinks the jury won't see the full picture.
INSKEEP: I want to ask about the children who range in age, if I'm not mistaken from just past being toddlers up to early teens. Do they have to testify?
BYRNES: Well, they may not have to testify. It just depends on how the trial unfolds. Dias, who they live with now, says the conviction will be important for closure and healing. She says the children are scared Lorincz will get out.
DIAS: The children have always been anxious and question whether Susan was still locked up - has she been released? So I think at this point, they will have a sense of relief.
BYRNES: Dias says it has been a tough year, but they are resilient, though she says they aren't the carefree, happy children they once were. She told me they actually start a new school year today, Steve.
INSKEEP: Joe Byrnes, thanks so much.
BYRNES: You bet.
INSKEEP: He's with Central Florida Public Media. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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