Jacksonville, FL – 60-year-old Florida woman was sentenced to more than 2 decades behind bars after she killed 35-year-old woman, Ajake, in June last year. The defendant, Suzan, initially faced the maximum sentence of 30 years in state prison, but was sentenced to 25 years after jury found her guilty of manslaughter earlier this year. During the trial, prosecutors said the elderly woman shot the mother of four after the younger woman came to the defendant’s home after she threw objects at her children.
The defendant claimed self-defence, but the judge said that she was safe behind a locked door and the victim was not armed. After going to a different room to get a gun, the elderly woman reportedly chose to grab a gun, come to the front door and then shoot the victim instead of locking the bedroom door and wait for officers to arrive on scene. Judge Robbert reportedly said: “I find that the shooting was completely unnecessary. In this case, the defendant was behind the door. The door was locked. She had already called law enforcement. They were in route. She knew they were in route. She was in a relatively safe position. For some reason, she went into her room and found a gun. She could have stayed in the room and put another locked door between her and the victim, but she came back out, put herself in front of the door, and at the time she fired the gun through the door, she was safe.”
During the trial, prosecutors also added that the defendant and the victim reportedly had an argument for years after they both shared a yard. The victim reportedly came to the elderly woman’s home and knocked on her door after the defendant reportedly threw objects at the victim’s children. The defendant claimed that she was afraid of the victim and shot her in self-defence after the victim knocked and yelled on her door. The elderly woman told authorities that she feared for her life and shot the victim in self-defence.
During the sentencing, the defendant reportedly apologized for shooting the younger woman and claimed that she ‘never intended to kill her’. The defence attorney asked for 11.5 years in prison which is the lowest for her crime under state guidelines. The defendant’s attorney also said that there are several reasons to justify a downward departure, including a mental disorder and claims that the victim was the aggressor and under extreme duress during the confrontation.