VOLUME 5 ISSUE 46
NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2024
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It’s that time of year! Pg B1
JUSTICE FOR AJ
BOCC split on two large developments in NW Marion County The Marion County Commission approved a mixed-use development near WEC but denied a project on NW 60th Avenue. By Belea T. Keeney belea@magnoliamediaco.com
T
he Marion County Board of County Commissioners reviewed two large development projects during its Nov. 19 meeting, both new planned unit developments in the northwest part of the county. One project got the green light while the other was denied.
MARTINGALE MIXED-USE COMPLEX AT US 27 & NW 70TH AVENUE APPROVED
The board approved the Martingale mix-used application from Castro Plaza, LLC, and Austin International Realty, LLC, which involved a zoning change from general agriculture, community business and rural activity center to planned unit development, or PUD. The project proposes a mix of commercial and residential units that will expand the current Golden Hills Shopping Center. It currently houses Horse & Hounds restaurant, Remington’s Prime Steakhouse and Darrell’s Diner, along with other shops and businesses. The center was See BOCC, page A2
Susan Lorincz becomes emotional before being sentenced to 25 years by Circuit Court Judge Robert Hodges, as her defense attorney, Morris Carranza, right comforts her at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter in August for the June 2, 2023 shooting death of Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, who Lorincz shot and killed through her own closed and locked front door. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
Lorincz sentenced to 25 years for killing AJ Owens, mother of four By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
C
ircuit Judge Robert Hodges on Nov. 25 sentenced 60-year-old Susan Lorincz to 25 years for the manslaughter of Ajike “AJ” Owens, after a three and a half hour sentencing hearing. The state asked for the maximum sentence of 30 years. Hodges explained to the audience that he found the circumstances surrounding the
incident and severity of the consequences not only to Owens, but her children, did not allow him to apply any of the defense’s requests for downward departure for sentencing. However, Hodges took into account both Lorincz’ PTSD and lack of criminal record. Owens, 34 was shot in front of two of her children on June 2, 2023, after an argument between Lorincz and the children, who regularly played in a field near her apartment. The incident was a culmination of what neighbors and law enforcement
described as a long-running, racially tinged feud over where children in the Quail Run apartment complex played. Lorincz’ defense argued that the woman shot her neighbor out of self-defense, based on the Florida Stand Your Ground Law. However, the jury decided on Aug. 16 after three days of witness testimony that Lorincz’ killing of Owens was not justified. The shooting brought national attention with activist Rev. Al Sharpton and See Justice, page A4
Offering a way forward
CASA Marion is a certified domestic violence service center and offers a crisis hotline, emergency shelter, case management, education and legal information. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
A Lariana Forsythe, CASA Marion CEO. [Photo courtesy CASA Marion]
former resident of CASA Marion’s recently opened domestic violence emergency shelter said the organization saved not only her life but the lives of her pre-teen son and preschool age daughter. CASA stands for “Community Action Stops Abuse.” CASA Marion is the name of the state certified domestic violence abuse services provider that opened in
Ocala in January under the umbrella of the long established CASA Pinellas in St. Petersburg. The vision of CASA Marion is a “society free from domestic violence.” According to the victim—who, at shelter officials’ request, is identified only as Jane—she suffered years of increasing isolation and a pattern of control from having her activities around the family home constantly monitored to taking control of her income. She fled the home with her two children after
a life-threatening incident. “If not for CASA Marion, myself and my two children would be out on the street and perhaps even dead,” said Jane. “I had tried to leave several times before and he always found me wherever I was staying, even when I went to a domestic violence shelter …,” Jane wrote in part in an email. CASA Marion is one of Florida’s 41 certified domestic violence service centers. The agency provides services including a 24-hour
crisis hotline, emergency shelter for victims and their children, case management, education and legal information, as, for example, protective injunctions. After CASA Marion opened here in January with a temporary emergency shelter, it opened a permanent emergency shelter that can accommodate about 40 people in August. CASA Special Events and Marketing Manager See CASA, page A3
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