The jury hears closing arguments in the trial of a white woman who shot and killed a black neighbor while children played outside.
The panel will also receive instructions from the judge before considering Susan Lorincz’s vindication under the state’s controversial self-defense laws. Lorincz, 60, is charged with manslaughter with a firearm and has pleaded not guilty. She could spend up to 30 years in prison if convicted, according to District Attorney Bill Gladson’s office.
Lorincz told the court Thursday that after consulting with her attorneys, she decided not to testify. The defense concluded after hearing from ballistics and police training experts who testified about Lorincz’s location at the time of the shooting and her mental state at the time of the incident.
On Wednesday, jurors heard testimony from the lead investigator in the case, Detective Ryan Stith of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutors asked Stith to read a letter Lorincz allegedly wrote to Owens’ four children after telling her she would be charged in Owens’ death.
“I am so, so sorry for your loss,” Stith read to the court. “I never wanted to kill your mother. I was afraid your mother would kill me. I shot out of fear.”
Outside the courthouse, Owens’ mother, Pamala Dias, told reporters that she found it difficult to maintain her composure during the trial.
“‘Difficult’ is a very mild description,” Dias said. “The amount of emotion, disgust, anguish, pain – sitting right in front of the woman who took my daughter’s life … I have to dig deep into my strength and faith to hold it all together.”
In the video of her initial interview shown to jurors Wednesday, Lorincz tells detectives that she had previously argued with Owens about the noise her children were making and the toys left outside. But she says the situation escalated on June 2, 2023, when she confronted the children about the noise and threw away her roller skates.
Lorincz tells detectives that she called police that evening to report neighbors trying to kill her. She says dispatchers advised her to lock her door and that officers were on their way.
But before police could arrive, Lorincz tells detectives, Owens began “pounding on my door” and saying, “I’m going to kill you.”
“She’s banging so hard it looked like my door was going to fly off,” Lorincz says in the video. “And I just… panicked and thought, ‘Oh my God, she’s really going to kill me this time.’ You know? And so… I don’t even remember picking up the gun, I just remember shooting.”
Lorincz’s attorney argues that she believed Owens was going to harm her and that she had “no choice” but to shoot.
In her statement to the court, Lorincz mentioned that she has informed her attorneys of her testimony and expressed her concerns to them. After the defense concludes, the jury will decide whether Lorincz was justified under self-defense laws when she fired her weapon.
