Florida residents demand the arrest of a white woman who allegedly yelled at Ajike Owens' kids before fatally shooting her

Florida residents are calling for the arrest of an unidentified white woman who allegedly yelled at her Black neighbor’s kids before fatally shooting her.

On Monday (June 6), NBC News reported a long feud between the 58-year-old and her neighbor’s kids had a deadly end on Friday (June 2). According to a statement from civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the children of Ajike “AJ” Owens were playing in a field near an apartment complex in Ocala. The white woman allegedly began yelling at the kids to get off her land, calling them racial slurs.

After being yelled at, Crump stated the children accidentally left an iPad behind, which the 58-year-old reportedly took. When one of Owens’ kids went to get the device back, the outlet noted the woman threw it. She hit the boy in the head, cracking the iPad screen, Crump added.

Once Owens learned what happened, she reportedly walked across the street to speak with the woman. “She knocked on the door, and at that point, the woman allegedly shot through the door, hitting AJ, who later died from her injuries,” the attorney revealed.

Yesterday, when Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods spoke at a news conference, he did not confirm or deny Crump’s account of what happened. However, the officer shared at least two of Owens’ children may have witnessed the shooting. “The children are a big part of answering a lot [of] our questions,” Woods said. The policemen confirmed Owens and the 58-year-old engaged in a heated exchange and that Owens was shot through the door. “I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands,” he added.

Meanwhile, Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, who also spoke about the incident on Monday, said her child did not pose a threat to her neighbor. “The mother, the protector of her children, she wanted to know why this happened — a closed, locked door. The door never opened. 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,” Dias said.

At this time, while many call for the woman’s arrest, Woods stated the department must determine if Stand Your Ground applies. “That law has specific instructions for us and law enforcement, and any time that we think or perceive or believe that … might come into play, we cannot make an arrest,” he noted. “The law specifically says that, and what we have to rule out is whether the deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest.”

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