A Florida mother was fatally shot Friday night by her neighbor in front of her son after a dispute over children playing.
Police say Ajike Owens 35, a Black mother of four, was shot through the front door of her neighbor’s home while her 9-year-old son was standing beside her.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference that Owens and the unidentified shooter, also a woman, had a two year long feud. Before the shooting, the neighbor reportedly yelled at Owens’ children as they played in a field near the shooter’s apartment and threw a pair of skates that hit one of them.
When Owens went to confront the neighbor an argument developed and the neighbor shot her through the front door while she was standing next to her 9-year-old son.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the Owens family said in a statement that the shooter had been yelling racial slurs at the children before the fatal confrontation.
Though authorities did not identify the shooter, Crump said in his statement that it was a 58-year-old white woman.
No arrest has been made in the case.
Woods explained at the press conference that because of Florida’s “stand your ground” law, he can’t legally make an arrest until authorities can prove that the unidentified shooter did not act in self-defense.
Owens’ mother Pamela Dias, said she is 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. She had no weapon, she posed no imminent threat to anyone,” Dias said.
