Florida woman accused of shooting neighbor through door moved out after death threats, landlord says
Woman accused of shooting neighbor moves
A candlelight vigil is set up outside a Florida home where a single mother of four was shot to death. Relatives are outraged because the accused shooter, her neighbor, has not been arrested. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said his detectives are investigating whether this is a case of self-defense. Meanwhile, the landlord of the property where the accused shooter lived said she had to leave because she was receiving death threats.
Ocala - A candlelight vigil is set up outside a Florida home where a single mother of four was shot to death. Relatives are outraged because the accused shooter, her neighbor, has not been arrested.
Marion County sheriff's deputies responded to an initial trespassing call late Friday at a residence on SW 108th Lane in Ocala, Florida. Once deputies arrived, they found a woman – later identified as Ajike "AJ" Shantrell Owens – with a gunshot wound. Owens was transported to the hospital, where she died.
"Miss Owens was shot through the door," Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said during a news conference on Monday.
Investigators said Owens, 35, was outside her neighbor's closed door when a woman inside the home fired a gun and shot her to death. A FOX 35 News crew observed a bullet hole in the door from the gunfire.
"According to one side, there’s a lot of aggressiveness from both of them, back-and-forth," the sheriff said.
Investigators said there was a dispute over an electronic tablet that one of Owens' sons left outside and the shooter retrieved it. When he tried to get it back, deputies said the woman threw roller skates at the kids. Sheriff Woods said, "Something was thrown and yes, it hit the children, but we’re not sure if it was thrown directly at them."
According to neighbors, the shooter also yelled racial slurs at the kids. Owens went knocking on the door, trying to get her son’s tablet back when she lost her life, deputies said.
"Was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son standing next to her," said the victim's mother, Pamela Dias.
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"We started doing CPR everything we could," explained neighbor Frank Colon.
Colon said he ran outside when he heard the gunshot. He told us that neighborhood kids like to play on a grassy lot in between his home and the accused shooter's unit and knew to stay away from the neighbor.
"I would always tell the kids, ‘Just leave her alone. Respect her, she’s an older lady.’"
We attempted to contact the accused shooter at her residence, but no one was home. According to the landlord of the property, the shooter had to move out after receiving death threats. He said she often complained about the noise from the neighborhood kids, so two months ago he said he put out a sign on his side of the property, asking them to keep off the grass.
Colon added, "It's an open field. There’s no limits, there’s no fence."
Dias said her daughter leaves behind four young children. The family is shocked, that the shooter has not been taken into custody.
"We need an arrest," family attorney Anthony Thomas said during a news conference on Monday.
However, the sheriff said investigators are trying to determine if this was a stand-your-ground case.
"The law says that, and I'm not going to violate the law," he said.
Marion County sheriff's deputies said they have been called to the homes of both the victim and the accused shooter around 8 times for neighborhood disputes. Neighbors said the shooter has a history of yelling at kids in the neighborhood. They claim her actions have been racially motivated.