Ajike Owens, a Nigerian mother of four, was shot dead by a white neighbour while she was attempting to recover an iPad stolen from her child in front of their home in Ocala, Florida, the United States.
According to a Monday Twitter post by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, the 35-year-old woman known as ‘AJ’ was murdered in the presence of her 9-year-old son.
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According to the Guardian UK, Crump claimed that the Nigerian woman was shot by her 58-year-old female neighbour, who had previously complained about Owens’ children playing outside.
The US attorney also revealed that no arrests have been made as a result of the state’s’stand your ground’ rule, describing the murder as a “unjust killing.”
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In his own reaction, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods stated at a press conference on Monday afternoon that the shooting appeared to be the culmination of a feud between the neighbours.
Deputies had been called to the address “six to eight” times in the previous two and a half years, according to Woods.
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He said he couldn’t confirm that Owens was attempting to retrieve an iPad when she was killed, but that the shooter had thrown skates at Owens’ children prior to the fatal confrontation.
“If someone threw something at my child, I’d be pissed off, what parent wouldn’t be?” Woods said. Who wouldn’t be upset by that, whether they threw it at them on purpose or not?
“I wish our shooter had called us instead of us taking action on our own.” I wish Mrs Owens had called us so we wouldn’t have ended up where we are today.”
According to the Guardian UK, Woods did not identify the shooter’s name, age, or race, but she was “cooperative.”
He urged the community to be patient while the investigation was ongoing, noting that not all of the children who witnessed the incident had yet been interviewed.
“We’re not cold-hearted bastards; we’re not going to interview children on the night their mother was possibly murdered.” We’ll just have to wait. We must rely on professionals and expert counsellors to meet with them, but I’m here to assure the family and friends that my office will do everything in its power to bring justice,” Woods added.
According to neighbours who spoke to the Ocala Star-Banner, the incident occurred while several children were playing on the grass in front of a duplex building at the development.
According to them, a female resident emerged from one of the units, threw something at the children, scooped up an iPad, and went back inside.
According to the neighbour, one of the children told Owens what had happened, and she went to the woman’s door.
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“She confronted her, and, according to one side, there was a lot of aggressiveness from both of them, back and forth, whether it was banging on the doors, banging on the walls, and threats being made,” Woods explained.
“And then, at that precise moment, Owens was shot through the door.”
