Authorities reported that a Florida woman was detained on Tuesday after being accused of fatally shooting her neighbor following a long-running dispute.
Ajike Owens's death has led to charges against Susan Louise Lorincz, 58, for manslaughter, negligence, and assault.
The front door of Ms. Lorincz's house was shot through by Ms. Owens, 35, last week.
Police refute her claim that she fired the shot that killed Ms. Owens in self-defense.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods stated earlier this week that Ms. Owens had gunshot wounds when she was discovered by police in the town of Ocala on Friday after they had been called to a trespassing call. When she was shot, one of her children was standing next to her. The mother of four passed away after being taken to the hospital.
According to Mr. Woods, the incident is thought to have been the result of an altercation between Ms. Lorincz and Ms. Owen's kids earlier in the day during which one of the kids was hit with a pair of skates.
The incident was the most recent in a string of disputes between the two women that had led to at least six calls to the police since January 2021.
Dozens of protesters congregated at a neighborhood prosecutor's office on Tuesday to call for the arrest of the suspect in the case.
According to Florida law, Sheriff Woods had initially stated that no arrests could be made unless it could be demonstrated that Ms. Lorincz did not act in self-defense.
The "stand your ground" law, which was first implemented in Florida in 2005, grants people the right to defend themselves against bodily harm or death by using reasonable force, including lethal force.
However, on Tuesday night, Sheriff Woods uploaded a video to Facebook in which he defended not "rushing in" to make an arrest earlier and claimed the case was "simply a killing.".
He claimed that Florida's laws were unambiguous. Maybe I don't like them. I might not concur with them. However, I'll adhere.
Ben Crump, a well-known civil rights attorney who has defended the families of several well-known black people who were victims of violence and police brutality, is defending the family of Ms. Owen, a woman who was black.
Mr. Crump claimed in a statement that Ms. Lorincz, a white woman, had hurled racial epithets at Ms. Owen's kids before the shooting.
Mr. Crump expressed his gratitude for the arrest at a news conference on Wednesday, adding that he thought "archaic" stand your ground laws could "complicate matters.".
The use of racial epithets by Ms. Lorincz prior to the shooting has not been confirmed by regional authorities. For a response, the Marion County Sheriff's office has been contacted by the BBC.
According to jail records, Ms. Lorincz does not have a lawyer listed. When she will return to court next is unknown.
At least 28 states have stand your ground legislation in place.
Several well-known cases, including the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, have been connected to these laws.
Three white men accused of shooting black jogger Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 made an effort to use the law to defend the murder. In the end, they were unsuccessful and found guilty of murder.
