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Family of slain mother, shot through neighbor's closed door in Florida, urges arrest

Ajike "AJ" Owens, a mother of four, was shot and killed through her neighbors door following a dispute. Her family demanded justice during a press conference Monday and called on the Marion County Sheriff to arrest the suspect. Photo courtesy of attorney Ben Crump/Twitter
Ajike "AJ" Owens, a mother of four, was shot and killed through her neighbors door following a dispute. Her family demanded justice during a press conference Monday and called on the Marion County Sheriff to arrest the suspect. Photo courtesy of attorney Ben Crump/Twitter

June 5 (UPI) -- The family of a slain Florida mother of four, shot through a closed door following a dispute with her neighbor, is calling on police to arrest the suspect.

The family of Ajike "AJ" Owens demanded justice at a press conference Monday as Marion County Sheriff deputies, who have identified the shooter, work to determine what role the state's "stand your ground laws" might play in Owens' death.

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"Any time that we think or perceive or believe that that might come into play, we cannot make an arrest. The law specifically says that," Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods explained. "And what we have to rule out is whether this deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest."

In Florida, residents can defend themselves with deadly force if they believe they are in imminent danger.

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"This is not a whodunnit. We know who did the shooting," Woods added.

Owens, who is Black, was shot Friday near her Ocala home after she went to talk to a neighbor. The unidentified white woman "yelled" at Owens' children "to get off her land" and called "them racial slurs," according to Ben Crump, one of the family's attorneys.

Crump said the neighbor took an iPad left behind by one of the children and then threw it at the boy when he went to retrieve it, prompting Owens to confront her.

"She knocked on the door and at that point, the woman allegedly shot through the door, hitting AJ, who later died from her injuries," Crump said in a tweet.

Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, said Monday her daughter was simply protecting her children.

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"The mother, the protector of her children, she wanted to know why this happened. A closed locked door. The door never opened," Dias said.

"My daughter, my grandchildren's mother, was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son standing next to her. She had no weapon. She posed no imminent threat to anyone."

The sheriff acknowledged Monday that there was a feud between the neighbors and that there was a heated exchange before the shooting. There "was aggressiveness back and forth from both of them," as Woods said investigators were still working to get both sides of the story.

"I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands," Woods added, saying deputies had responded half a dozen times since January of 2021 to calls surrounding the feud.

Attorney Anthony Thomas, who also represents the Owens family, urged Woods to make an arrest.

"Make no mistake about it, We do support our sheriff. But at the same time, we want him to do the job that he promised that he would do and we want swift justice."

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