Sister of Susan Lorincz charged with child neglect

The Marion County Jail is shown at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office complex on Dec. 28. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

The sister of Susan Lorincz, the Ocala woman convicted of manslaughter earlier this month in the shooting death of her neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens, was charged with child neglect after law enforcement documented several incidents spanning nearly a year.

Ellyn Lorincz, 56, was arrested on Aug. 23 after Ocala Police Department investigators observed a pattern of neglect toward her 9-year-old son including multiple incidents from October 2023 until the present. OPD investigators noted a failure to provide the child with food, supervision, medication, and a clean home, according to the arrest report. No other adults or children are mentioned to have lived in the home with the woman and child.

Susan Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter with a firearm on Aug. 16 for the killing of Owens. A jury found that Lorincz’ actions were not justified by self-defense after she shot Owens through her locked front door. She is expected to be sentenced by November and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Ellyn Lorincz, who attended her sister’s trial, now must defend herself in court over claims that she neglected her son.

The following are reports of her interactions with law enforcement in recent months:

On Oct. 23, 2023, OPD responded to Lorincz’ home in an east Ocala apartment complex and found the child inside the home unattended. Lorincz told officers that she was upset because the child frequently kept her up through the night. The responding officer reported cat feces, roaches, food and medications left out and in reach of the child.

On Feb. 22, 2024, OPD encountered Lorincz at Spin City Laundry while responding to reports that she was intoxicated. The child was with her. Lorincz told officers that she had taken pain medication, felt frustrated with the child’s behavior and that the pair walked a mile to the laundromat shortly before midnight.

On Feb. 28 at her home, Ellyn Lorincz told officers that she had not given the child his necessary medication.

On April 24, officers again responded to the home and Lorincz told them she wished to give up her parental rights.

On May 5, a neighbor told officers that the child had been locked outside of the home for hours. The child advised that he had not been fed since breakfast and did not attend school that day. Officers reported the same uncleanly conditions within the home.

On Aug. 14, officers responded to the home in reference to the child hitting his mother with a bike helmet. Lorincz called her son a number of derogatory and profane names when speaking with officers and asked them to “take him to jail or Baker Act him so she did not have to deal with him,” according to the report.

At this time, she was advised by the Florida Department of Children and Families that she had a legal responsibility to supervise her son. Officers reported similar dirty conditions within the house and were told that the child slept on the floor of his mother’s room.

On Aug. 20, officers reported to the home in response to the child running in and out of the house, and neighbors claimed he had been getting into altercations with other children and damaging property while left unsupervised for four hours. Lorincz said she had not given the child his medicine, and officers again reported cat feces, roaches and medications around the home, according to the report.

Lorincz was then arrested and released the same day after paying a $1,000 bond.

She made her first appearance in court on Aug. 24 before Circuit Judge Robert Hodges, the same judge who presided over her sister’s manslaughter trial. On Aug. 26, Lorincz entered a written plea of not guilty.