A 58-year old white woman has killed a black mother of four children, Ajike Owens, 35, in Florida, United States.
Family members demanded justice at a press conference Monday after Owens was shot through the door in front of her son, 9, by a white woman who complained about her children playing outside the house. The police have yet to make any arrest because of the ‘stand your ground’ law in the state.
A civil rights attorney, Ben Crump said the deceased children were playing in a field near an apartment complex in Ocala, Florida, on Friday when her neighbour began yelling at them to get off her land and calling them racial slurs.
The children left the field but forgot their Ipad and went back to fetch it when the white woman threw it at one of the children and the screen cracked after hitting the boy, Crump disclosed.
The Attorney stated that Owens went across the street to speak with her neighbour after hearing of the incident when the white woman fired through the door, hitting the mother of four children who later died at the hospital from injuries sustained from the gunshot.
The Police Marion County Sheriff, Billy Woods, who confirmed knowing the identity of the shooter, said authorities are working to determine what role the state’s ‘stand your ground’ law might play in the incident.
Citizens of the state are permitted to use deadly force if they feel their lives are in danger under the ‘stand your ground’ Florida law enacted in 2005.
“Any time that we think or perceive or believe that that might come into play, we cannot make an arrest. The law specifically says that. And what we have to rule out is whether this deadly force was justified or not before we can even make the arrest.
“This is not a whodunnit. We know who did the shooting”, Woods said during a separate Monday press conference.
