Florida
White woman sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting Black neighbor in lengthy dispute
A white Florida woman who fatally shot a Black neighbor through her front door during an ongoing dispute over the neighbor’s boisterous children was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for her manslaughter conviction.
Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted in August of killing Ajike “A.J.” Owens, 35, by firing a single shot from her .380-caliber handgun in June 2023. She had faced a maximum of 30 years behind bars. Circuit Judge Robert Hodges opted for a slightly lesser term amid evidence that Lorincz had been abused as a child and had mental health problems.
“The shooting was completely unnecessary in this case,” Hodges said during an afternoon hearing. “The shooting, I find, was based more in anger than in fear.”
The shooting was the culmination of a long-running argument between the two neighbors over Owens’ children playing in a grassy area near both of their houses in Ocala, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.
Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied. Trial testimony showed Owens, a mother of four young children, was pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling, leading Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.
Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she had lived in the neighborhood. Jurors who heard the trial evidence did not agree that the shooting was in self-defense.
In a statement to the judge, Lorincz apologized to Owens’ family but said she was “literally terrified” of Owens the night of the shooting.
“I so wish I could go back and change things so she was still here,” Lorincz said. “I never intended to kill anyone.”
Owens’ family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was convicted by an all-white jury. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said in court Monday that she now is the sole caregiver of her daughter’s four children and that they are deeply traumatized by the killing.
“We’re hurting with a pain that will never, never go away,” Dias said. “There’s a hole in our heart that will never mend. Susan destroyed our family.”
Lorincz’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Amanda Sizemore, sought a more lenient sentence, an unspecified term below the 11.5 years in prison that is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines. Sizemore said in court documents that there were several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and under “extreme duress” during the confrontation.
The judge said such a departure was not warranted, especially considering the impact of their mother’s violent death on her children.
“They’ll live their whole lives without their mother, which I think is a very significant harm inflicted by Ms. Lorincz,” Hodges said.
There were protests in the Black community in Ocala when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence. Marion County, which includes Ocala, has a Black population of about 12%, according to census figures.
Washington
FBI agent acquitted in 2020 train shooting arrested on charges of sexual assault
WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI agent who was acquitted of attempted murder for shooting a man on a train nearly four years ago was arrested Monday in Maryland on charges that he sexually assaulted two women, according to police and court records.
Eduardo Valdivia has been suspended by the FBI pending the conclusion of a police investigation in Montgomery County, Maryland, a bureau spokesperson said.
“The FBI takes allegations of criminal violations and misconduct very seriously,” the FBI spokesperson said in a statement. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI cannot comment further.”
Valdivia previously was charged and acquitted in 2022 of attempted second-degree murder and other charges stemming from an off-duty shooting aboard a moving Metro train near Washington, D.C.
Online court records show Valdivia now faces felony and misdemeanor charges, including two counts of second-degree rape. The dates of the alleged offenses are in May 2024 and September 2024.
Defense attorney Robert Bonsib, who represented Valdivia in the shooting case, confirmed that his client was arrested Monday on sexual assault charges.
“We don’t accept at first blush any of the allegations until all of the evidence is in,” Bonsib said.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department identified Valdivia as the arrested FBI agent without commenting on his connection to the shooting.
Police detectives believe there may be additional victims, and they’re planning a news conference on Tuesday “to encourage them to come forward,” the department said in a statement. Police didn’t immediately release any other information about the charges.
Valdivia, 40, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was ordered held in custody after his initial court appearance on Monday, Bonsib said. Valdivia is scheduled to return to court Tuesday for a bond hearing before a judge, Bonsib said.
Bonsib has said Valdivia joined the FBI in 2011 and was promoted to supervisory special agent at the FBI headquarters in 2019. The attorney said Valdivia had been working as an FBI agent since his acquittal.
On Dec. 15, 2020, a confrontation between Valdivia and an unarmed passenger swiftly escalated from a testy exchange of words to a shooting on a train approaching the Medical Center station in Bethesda, Maryland.
Valdivia shot and wounded the man from a distance of roughly 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) after repeatedly telling the man to back up, county prosecutor Robert Hill said in court. The wounded man had part or all of his spleen, colon and pancreas removed during surgery after the shooting, Hill said.
Bonsib has said Valdivia acted in self-defense as the man approached him at the rear of a train car.
“The law does not require that you wait to be struck before you take action. Had this resulted in a hands-on fight and a struggle for Agent Valdivia’s gun, only God knows what could have happened,” Bonsib said after Valdivia was charged.
White woman sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting Black neighbor in lengthy dispute
A white Florida woman who fatally shot a Black neighbor through her front door during an ongoing dispute over the neighbor’s boisterous children was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for her manslaughter conviction.
Susan Lorincz, 60, was convicted in August of killing Ajike “A.J.” Owens, 35, by firing a single shot from her .380-caliber handgun in June 2023. She had faced a maximum of 30 years behind bars. Circuit Judge Robert Hodges opted for a slightly lesser term amid evidence that Lorincz had been abused as a child and had mental health problems.
“The shooting was completely unnecessary in this case,” Hodges said during an afternoon hearing. “The shooting, I find, was based more in anger than in fear.”
The shooting was the culmination of a long-running argument between the two neighbors over Owens’ children playing in a grassy area near both of their houses in Ocala, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.
Prosecutors said Owens had come to Lorincz’s home after her children complained that she had thrown roller skates and an umbrella at them, which Lorincz denied. Trial testimony showed Owens, a mother of four young children, was pounding on Lorincz’s door and yelling, leading Lorincz to claim self-defense in shooting her neighbor.
Lorincz told detectives in a videotaped interview that she feared for her life. She also said she had been harassed for most of the three years she had lived in the neighborhood. Jurors who heard the trial evidence did not agree that the shooting was in self-defense.
In a statement to the judge, Lorincz apologized to Owens’ family but said she was “literally terrified” of Owens the night of the shooting.
“I so wish I could go back and change things so she was still here,” Lorincz said. “I never intended to kill anyone.”
Owens’ family pushed for the maximum prison sentence after Lorincz was convicted by an all-white jury. Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said in court Monday that she now is the sole caregiver of her daughter’s four children and that they are deeply traumatized by the killing.
“We’re hurting with a pain that will never, never go away,” Dias said. “There’s a hole in our heart that will never mend. Susan destroyed our family.”
Lorincz’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Amanda Sizemore, sought a more lenient sentence, an unspecified term below the 11.5 years in prison that is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines. Sizemore said in court documents that there were several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that Owens was the aggressor and under “extreme duress” during the confrontation.
The judge said such a departure was not warranted, especially considering the impact of their mother’s violent death on her children.
“They’ll live their whole lives without their mother, which I think is a very significant harm inflicted by Ms. Lorincz,” Hodges said.
There were protests in the Black community in Ocala when prosecutors took weeks to charge Lorincz with manslaughter, a lesser count than second-degree murder, which carries a potential life prison sentence. Marion County, which includes Ocala, has a Black population of about 12%, according to census figures.
Washington
FBI agent acquitted in 2020 train shooting arrested on charges of sexual assault
WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI agent who was acquitted of attempted murder for shooting a man on a train nearly four years ago was arrested Monday in Maryland on charges that he sexually assaulted two women, according to police and court records.
Eduardo Valdivia has been suspended by the FBI pending the conclusion of a police investigation in Montgomery County, Maryland, a bureau spokesperson said.
“The FBI takes allegations of criminal violations and misconduct very seriously,” the FBI spokesperson said in a statement. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI cannot comment further.”
Valdivia previously was charged and acquitted in 2022 of attempted second-degree murder and other charges stemming from an off-duty shooting aboard a moving Metro train near Washington, D.C.
Online court records show Valdivia now faces felony and misdemeanor charges, including two counts of second-degree rape. The dates of the alleged offenses are in May 2024 and September 2024.
Defense attorney Robert Bonsib, who represented Valdivia in the shooting case, confirmed that his client was arrested Monday on sexual assault charges.
“We don’t accept at first blush any of the allegations until all of the evidence is in,” Bonsib said.
A spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department identified Valdivia as the arrested FBI agent without commenting on his connection to the shooting.
Police detectives believe there may be additional victims, and they’re planning a news conference on Tuesday “to encourage them to come forward,” the department said in a statement. Police didn’t immediately release any other information about the charges.
Valdivia, 40, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was ordered held in custody after his initial court appearance on Monday, Bonsib said. Valdivia is scheduled to return to court Tuesday for a bond hearing before a judge, Bonsib said.
Bonsib has said Valdivia joined the FBI in 2011 and was promoted to supervisory special agent at the FBI headquarters in 2019. The attorney said Valdivia had been working as an FBI agent since his acquittal.
On Dec. 15, 2020, a confrontation between Valdivia and an unarmed passenger swiftly escalated from a testy exchange of words to a shooting on a train approaching the Medical Center station in Bethesda, Maryland.
Valdivia shot and wounded the man from a distance of roughly 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) after repeatedly telling the man to back up, county prosecutor Robert Hill said in court. The wounded man had part or all of his spleen, colon and pancreas removed during surgery after the shooting, Hill said.
Bonsib has said Valdivia acted in self-defense as the man approached him at the rear of a train car.
“The law does not require that you wait to be struck before you take action. Had this resulted in a hands-on fight and a struggle for Agent Valdivia’s gun, only God knows what could have happened,” Bonsib said after Valdivia was charged.
