*(CNN) — Florida officials have declined to file murder charges against a woman accused of shooting and killing her neighbor through a closed door, citing “insufficient evidence.”
State Attorney Bill Gladson announced in a Monday news release the state would charge Lorincz with one count of manslaughter with a firearm and one count of assault.
Susan Lorincz, a 58-year-old White woman from Marion County, is accused of fatally shooting her neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens after Owens repeatedly knocked on her door. Investigators have said Lorincz became angry after several neighborhood children, including Owens’ children, were playing near her home.
The Owens family previously told CNN Lorincz harassed Owens and her children, who are Black and had called them racial slurs prior to the killing. One of Owens’ young sons witnessed the shooting.
Lorincz could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the charges, according to the statement.
Lorincz’s attorney told CNN she had no comment on the charges.
Gladson said his office “carefully examined the viability of both second-degree murder and manslaughter with a firearm, both first-degree felonies.”
Charging Lorincz with murder would require the state to prove Lorincz had a “depraved mind” at the time of the shooting, the statement said.
“As deplorable as the defendant’s actions were in this case, there is insufficient evidence to prove this specific and required element of second-degree murder,” the statement read. “While some may not agree with that decision, I can assure you that the decision was thoughtful and made without consideration of any factors other than the specific facts of this terrible crime.”
Gladson added his office “will do all it can to seek justice for Ms. Owens and her family.”
Lorincz told police she did not mean to hit Owens and was frightened for her own life, according to an arrest affidavit. She admitted to using racial slurs against neighborhood children in the past, says the affidavit.
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