Heartbreaking: Florida Mom Shot Dead After Neighborhood Feud Over Children Playing Escalates, Says Sheriff

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.

via: NBC News

The children of the victim, identified as Ajike “AJ” Owens, were playing in a field near an apartment complex in Ocala when, attorney Ben Crump said, an unidentified white woman, 58, “began yelling at them to get off her land and calling them racial slurs.”

According to Crump’s statement, after the woman yelled slurs at Owens’ children, they accidentally left an iPad behind, which the woman took.

When one of Owens’ children went to retrieve it, she threw it, hitting the boy and cracking the screen. Owens walked across the street to speak to her neighbor after she learned what happened, Crump said.

“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.

At a news conference Monday, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods did not confirm or reject Crump’s account, telling reporters he was not “going to stand here and tell you what they’re putting out there is inaccurate. It’s just I don’t know yet.”

Here’s what the sheriff said he does know:

There had been a long-standing “neighborhood feud” between the shooter and Owens about her children.

The children may have been hit by an unspecified object. “Was something thrown at them? Yes, but not directly at them of what we’re being told now,” Woods said. “It just unfortunately may have hit them.” He added: “The children are a big part of answering a lot our questions.”

When Owens came to the shooter’s door, there was a heated exchange. Owens was shot through the door.

At least two of Owens’ four children may have witnessed the shooting, which occurred about 9 p.m.

Woods promised Owens’ family his office will provide all resources available to seek justice in the case.

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