Family seeks arrest after murder of woman shot through neighbor’s door

A woman in Ocala, Florida, who confronted a neighbor who threw an object at her children was shot and killed “through the door” of the residence, the local sheriff said, in a case complicated by the “position of the stands”. your ground’ law after days without a decision on possible charges.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said his deputies had initially responded to “a restraining order” at about 9 p.m. Friday, but by the time they arrived they found “the victim with a gunshot wound.”

Ajike Owens, 35, a mother of four, was given first aid and taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said. The shooter, a woman, has not been identified by authorities.

The sheriff said the confrontation came after “a neighborhood feud over time” and “there was a lot of aggressiveness” at the door, “be it banging on the doors, banging on the walls and threats,” though he said commented that it was an incomplete account of the dispute. Sheriff Woods did not provide many details about the shooting, saying his office did not have all the facts and citing an ongoing investigation.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, speaking on behalf of the Owens family, complained in a statement on Facebook that the shooter “has NOT been arrested or charged with anything by police for the unjust murder.”

Ms. Owens, a black woman, had gone to the neighboring house to retrieve an iPad her children had forgotten after playing in a nearby field, which the woman, who is white, had taken with her, Mr. Crump said. in the statement.

At a press conference in Ocala Monday, Ms. Owens’ family, their legal team and community leaders appealed to the authorities to arrest the shooter and say everyone knew who she was.

Pamela Dias, Ms Owens’ mother, said one of her daughter’s children, a 9-year-old boy, had been standing next to his mother when she was shot.

“She was rendered voiceless,” Ms. Dias said. “We’re here on her behalf. We are here on behalf of the four children left behind, without a mother.”

Sheriff Woods said he had received multiple messages expressing concern about the shooting and the pace at which the investigation was unfolding. the Florida Attorney General’s Office.

“Every time something so tragic happens, there are always a lot of questions,” he said said at a news conference Monday. “A lot of people don’t understand how the laws in the state of Florida sometimes work.”

The sheriff said Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which allows individuals to use force to defend themselves if they reasonably believe they have been threatened, requires investigators to “rule out whether deadly force was warranted or not before we open an investigation.” Set up”. to arrest.”

Ms Owens’ shooting is the latest of similar incidents that have renewed focus on the legal protection of people who say they have feared for their safety. Some cases involve cases where victims accidentally approached the wrong house.

Florida is one of about 30 states that does “stand your ground” lawswhere self-defense protection applies to any place where a person has a legal right to be, not just at home.

Local leaders who attended the press conference with the sheriff expressed support for the investigation and urged the community to remain calm while it takes place.

Mr. Crump and Anthony D. Thomas, another lawyer who works with the family, have a rack describe what they said happened. It said Mrs Owens’ children were playing in a field next to an apartment complex when the woman yelled at them to get off her property and used racial slurs. The kids left and forgot an iPad. When one of them came back to retrieve it, the woman threw it at them and hit the child, he said.

When her children told her what had happened, Ms. Owens crossed the street with them to talk to the woman, the lawyer said. She knocked on the door and the woman “allegedly shot through the door and hit AJ,” the statement said, using Ms. Owens’ nickname.

Asked to confirm whether Mr. Crump’s statement was accurate, Sheriff Woods said “some of it is true, some of it is not.” He said the item thrown at the children was a pair of ice skates. He had no information on how many shots had been fired.

There were about “six to eight” reports of various disputes in an ongoing feud between the woman and Ms Owens over the children, including where they had played, he said.