A Florida mother was fatally shot outside a neighbor’s home over an ongoing dispute over children playing, but the shooter can’t be arrested until potential self-defense claims are ruled out under the state’s “stand your ground” law, The Associated Press reports.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference Monday that deputies responding to an Ocala home Friday night on the report of a trespassing found Ajike Owens suffering from gunshot wounds. The 35-year-old mother of four was taken to an area hospital, where she died.
Owens and the woman who fatally shot her were involved in an ongoing feud since January 2021, Woods said, noting that deputies had responded at least a half-dozen times to the address in connection with the dispute.
“I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into her own hands,” Woods said. “I wish Ms. Owens would have called us in the hopes we could have never gotten to the point at which we are here today.”
The AP reports that “Woods said detectives are working with the State Attorney’s Office, and they must investigate possible self-defense claims before they can move forward with any possible criminal charges. The sheriff pointed out that because of Florida’s ‘stand your ground’ law, he can’t legally make an arrest unless he can prove the shooter did not act in self-defense.”
Owen’s children were playing in a field near the shooter’s home on the night of the shooting when at some point the woman started yelling at the children and threw a pair of skates, striking one of the children, Woods said.
An argument ensued when Owens confronted the woman at her apartment before the woman shot Owens through the front door, authorities said.
Woods said the children who witnessed the shooting have not yet been interviewed by investigators because the agency wants them to be interviewed by child experts.
Woods said most of what investigators know about the incident is from the shooter.
“There was a lot of aggressiveness from both of them, back and forth,” Wood said of the shooter’s account.
“Whether it be banging on the doors, banging on the walls and threats being made. And then at that moment is when Ms. Owens was shot through the door.”
During a vigil Monday Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said she was seeking justice for her daughter and her grandchildren.
“My daughter, my grandchildren’s mother, was shot and killed with her 9-year-old son standing next to her,” Dias said. “She had no weapon. She posed no imminent threat to anyone.”
