‘Justice for AJ’ and reassurance for her children

The Rev. Al Sharpton called out Florida state officials and Gov. Ron DeSantis for their silence after the shooting in his eulogy at the memorial service for Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens on Monday, June 12.

“We’re not going to let you,” he warned. “We’re not going to be quiet about it. What happened here is wrong, and we’ve come here with AJ’s family to be strong with them.”

Owens died from a fatal gunshot fired by Quail Run neighbor Susan Lorincz through Lorincz’s door on Friday, June 2. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office charged Lorincz with manslaughter and other crimes after the shooting.

Sharpton admonished conservative lawmakers for “wanting to bury what happened to AJ.”

“Does DeSantis have laryngitis?” Sharpton asked rhetorically, adding that he was confused about state officials “who can stand up for someone who has been indicted for espionage but cannot stand up for a mother trying to protect her children.”

Before Sharpton’s speech, Meadowbrook Church Pastor Tim Gilligan gave the welcome address and promised that the church is “a house of love and a house of peace.”

Sharpton thanked the pastor at the opening of his eulogy, saying “he never asked what was going to be said or what was going to be done,” adding with an affectionate chuckle, “This is a house for everybody, but I don’t know if I’d open my doors to Al Sharpton if I was Tim!”

Bishop David Stockton, president of the Marion County chapter of the NAACP, reminded all in attendance that the service was about celebrating Owens, not about politics and “cameras” before welcoming Sharpton to the stage.

The reverend, who’s used to the limelight, countered Stockton’s request with a recommendation of his own.

“I want you cameras to show up,” Sharpton told the journalists and cameramen in the back of the church. “The world needs to know that we shouldn’t be at a funeral right now.”

He recounted a poignant story about his own childhood and provided words of comfort and reassurance to Owens’ children.

“I was raised by a single mother,” Sharpton told the congregation. “My father left me when I was 10. I grew up on welfare and food stamps. The only thing between me and jail was my mother.”

Sharpton told Owens’ children that they should never feel guilty about what happened to her. (Son Israel, 9, has been quoted in several stories after the shooting and was by his mom’s side at Lorincz’s front door when his mother was fatally shot.)

“Your mother chose to stand in danger’s way to protect you,” Sharpton told the children.

Sharpton went on to emphasize fellowship and unity in the wake of Owens’ untimely death, praising the white demonstrators who joined the Black community in downtown Ocala for peaceful protests and vigils following the shooting.

Throughout the service, the auditorium resonated with jubilation between sobs. Before the service began, a booming choir and band performed a spiritual that repeated the imperative, “Jesus, heal,” as Owens’ body lay in an open white casket, later to be escorted by horse-drawn carriage to the cemetery.

Mourners rose up from their seats and raised their hands in praise, swaying back and forth and rejoicing through tears as Owens’ loved ones and children — Isaac, Israel, Afrika and Titus — dressed stunningly in white, walked in procession to their seats at the front of Ocala’s Meadowbrook Church.

City Councilman Ire Bethea was among the local public figures in attendance. Stockton introduced guest speakers and an impassioned choral performance of Owens’ favorite spiritual, “Take Me to the King.”

Sharpton also gave a shout-out to Sabrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, who was also at the service and is now a friend and ally with Owens’ family. Trayvon had just turned 17 when he was shot in 2012. His case brought recognition to trial attorney Benjamin Crump, who is now representing Owens’ family.

“I call Ben Crump the attorney general of Black America,” Sharpton said before the lawyer approached the stage.

In previous years, Crump has since defended George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others in the national spotlight.

Crump praised Sharpton’s eloquence, how he always says something that makes you stop and take a breath.

“We’re going to stand our ground for the respect, dignity and the humanity of AJ, and most of all, justice for AJ!” Crump shouted, leading the church in a chant, “Justice for A.J.!”

The attorney also thanked Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods for making the arrest “and not delaying it another moment further”; the greater the delay, he said, the worse the impact on the children.

After members of Owens’ family approached the platform, noticeably weary from a horrible week, Stockton announced that each of her four children will have numerous full scholarships to choose from.

“They will have the choice to attend any HBCU in Florida,” he said of the state’s historically black colleges and universities.