(Trends Wide) — A woman was taken into custody Tuesday night in connection with the death of 35-year-old Ajike “AJ” Owens, who was fatally shot last week in central Florida after knocking on a neighbor’s door, a spokesman said. from the sheriff’s office.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods told reporters Monday that his office was rigorously investigating the case, and that authorities were working to determine “whether or not deadly force was justified.”
Assistant Chief District Attorney for the state’s 5th Judicial Circuit, Walter Forgie, told Trends Wide earlier Tuesday that the office is working with the sheriff’s department on the investigation and a “prompt charging decision” would be made “once all Evidence has been collected and analysed.
Owens’ relatives said they want the person who killed her arrested and charged.
They say the shooter, identified by police reports only as a 58-year-old white woman, harassed the black mother and her children and called racial slurs at them before Friday’s killing in Marion County, outside Ocala.
This is what we know.
How the shooting unfolded
At his Monday news conference, the sheriff briefly described how Friday’s shooting unfolded, but stressed that authorities had only heard the shooter’s version and were still working to interview the children, who were key witnesses to the shooting.
The shooter has been cooperating with authorities, Woods said.
Deputies responded to a home invasion call after 9 p.m. Friday night and found Owens lying in the grass, suffering from a gunshot wound, according to a sheriff’s office incident report. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to authorities.
The shooter had previously “engaged” with the Owens sons and had thrown a pair of skates at them, hitting them, according to Woods.
A witness told police there was a dispute over a child’s electronic tablet device before the shooter threw the skates, according to the incident report.
A boy then went back into his house and told his mother, Owens, the incident, who went to the neighbor’s house to “confront” her, Woods said.
The shooter told police there was “a lot of aggression” on both sides before shooting Owens through the door, according to the sheriff.
Witnesses told authorities that Owens went to the shooter’s home and knocked on the door before she was shot, according to the incident report.
The neighbor’s door “never opened” when Owens tried to confront her, according to Pamela Dias, the victim’s mother.
“My daughter, the mother of my grandchildren, was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son next to her. She had no weapon, she did not pose an imminent threat to anyone,” Dias said at another press conference held this Monday by the family lawyers.
The sheriff mentioned the “stand your ground” law.
Florida’s “stand your ground” law allows people to meet force with force if they believe they or someone else is in danger of serious harm at the hands of an assailant.
Under this law, a person can use deadly force anywhere as long as they are not engaging in any illegal activity, are being attacked in a place where they have a right to be, and reasonably believe their life and safety are in danger as a result. of an overt act or perceived threat committed by another person, as previously reported by Trends Wide.
“That law has specific instructions for us in law enforcement,” the sheriff said. “Anytime we think, or perceive, or believe that that might come into play, we can’t make an arrest, the law specifically says so.”
“What we have to rule out is whether or not deadly force was justified before we can make the arrest,” he said, adding, “I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking the law into her own hands.”
Although the sheriff did not explicitly say why he was referring to that law, the mention of it sparked a reaction from Owens’ family and their lawyers, who say there is no way to justify Owens’ murder.
In a verified GoFundMe page, the Owens family said stand your ground laws have “emboldened individuals to use unnecessary violent force in the name of self-defense,” and said they have partnered with national advocacy groups to promote change.
“I could have called 911. I could have done 100 more things … than use deadly force,” civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing the family, told MSNBC on Monday. “It is unacceptable”.
A single mother who “loved her children unconditionally”
The family described Owens as a single mother of four who was full of life, loved her children “with all her being” and helped those around her in any way she could.
She was described on the family’s GoFundMe as a devout Christian mother whose smile would light up a room and who would do anything for her loved ones, family and friends alike.
“To say she loved her children unconditionally is an understatement. She was a single mother whose life revolved around her children. She was the mother of her children’s football and cheerleading teams,” according to the page.
“She often helped other single mothers who were in similar situations to hers,” she added.
The page also said that Owens “excelled professionally as a manager” in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
“Honestly, I don’t even know how she did it. She is an incredible testament to all the mothers in this world,” Dias told MSNBC.
The GoFundMe for the Owens family had raised more than $85,000 as of Tuesday night.
— Trends Wide’s Jamiel Lynch and Carlos Suarez contributed to this report.
(Trends Wide) — A woman was taken into custody Tuesday night in connection with the death of 35-year-old Ajike “AJ” Owens, who was fatally shot last week in central Florida after knocking on a neighbor’s door, a spokesman said. from the sheriff’s office.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods told reporters Monday that his office was rigorously investigating the case, and that authorities were working to determine “whether or not deadly force was justified.”
Assistant Chief District Attorney for the state’s 5th Judicial Circuit, Walter Forgie, told Trends Wide earlier Tuesday that the office is working with the sheriff’s department on the investigation and a “prompt charging decision” would be made “once all Evidence has been collected and analysed.
Owens’ relatives said they want the person who killed her arrested and charged.
They say the shooter, identified by police reports only as a 58-year-old white woman, harassed the black mother and her children and called racial slurs at them before Friday’s killing in Marion County, outside Ocala.
This is what we know.
How the shooting unfolded
At his Monday news conference, the sheriff briefly described how Friday’s shooting unfolded, but stressed that authorities had only heard the shooter’s version and were still working to interview the children, who were key witnesses to the shooting.
The shooter has been cooperating with authorities, Woods said.
Deputies responded to a home invasion call after 9 p.m. Friday night and found Owens lying in the grass, suffering from a gunshot wound, according to a sheriff’s office incident report. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to authorities.
The shooter had previously “engaged” with the Owens sons and had thrown a pair of skates at them, hitting them, according to Woods.
A witness told police there was a dispute over a child’s electronic tablet device before the shooter threw the skates, according to the incident report.
A boy then went back into his house and told his mother, Owens, the incident, who went to the neighbor’s house to “confront” her, Woods said.
The shooter told police there was “a lot of aggression” on both sides before shooting Owens through the door, according to the sheriff.
Witnesses told authorities that Owens went to the shooter’s home and knocked on the door before she was shot, according to the incident report.
The neighbor’s door “never opened” when Owens tried to confront her, according to Pamela Dias, the victim’s mother.
“My daughter, the mother of my grandchildren, was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son next to her. She had no weapon, she did not pose an imminent threat to anyone,” Dias said at another press conference held this Monday by the family lawyers.
The sheriff mentioned the “stand your ground” law.
Florida’s “stand your ground” law allows people to meet force with force if they believe they or someone else is in danger of serious harm at the hands of an assailant.
Under this law, a person can use deadly force anywhere as long as they are not engaging in any illegal activity, are being attacked in a place where they have a right to be, and reasonably believe their life and safety are in danger as a result. of an overt act or perceived threat committed by another person, as previously reported by Trends Wide.
“That law has specific instructions for us in law enforcement,” the sheriff said. “Anytime we think, or perceive, or believe that that might come into play, we can’t make an arrest, the law specifically says so.”
“What we have to rule out is whether or not deadly force was justified before we can make the arrest,” he said, adding, “I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking the law into her own hands.”
Although the sheriff did not explicitly say why he was referring to that law, the mention of it sparked a reaction from Owens’ family and their lawyers, who say there is no way to justify Owens’ murder.
In a verified GoFundMe page, the Owens family said stand your ground laws have “emboldened individuals to use unnecessary violent force in the name of self-defense,” and said they have partnered with national advocacy groups to promote change.
“I could have called 911. I could have done 100 more things … than use deadly force,” civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing the family, told MSNBC on Monday. “It is unacceptable”.
A single mother who “loved her children unconditionally”
The family described Owens as a single mother of four who was full of life, loved her children “with all her being” and helped those around her in any way she could.
She was described on the family’s GoFundMe as a devout Christian mother whose smile would light up a room and who would do anything for her loved ones, family and friends alike.
“To say she loved her children unconditionally is an understatement. She was a single mother whose life revolved around her children. She was the mother of her children’s football and cheerleading teams,” according to the page.
“She often helped other single mothers who were in similar situations to hers,” she added.
The page also said that Owens “excelled professionally as a manager” in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
“Honestly, I don’t even know how she did it. She is an incredible testament to all the mothers in this world,” Dias told MSNBC.
The GoFundMe for the Owens family had raised more than $85,000 as of Tuesday night.
— Trends Wide’s Jamiel Lynch and Carlos Suarez contributed to this report.
