Spoiler alert: The following contains details from Netflix’s documentary “The Perfect Neighbor” (in select theaters now, streaming Oct. 17).
Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary exposes the evil that could lurk next door. “The Perfect Neighbor” chronicles the events leading to the June 2023 shooting death of Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four, by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz.
After Lorincz moved into a rental house in Ocala, Florida, about 40 miles south of Gainesville, she began calling 911 to complain about kids in the neighborhood, claiming that they were too loud and trespassing on her property. Officers would dutifully come to investigate while recording with their body cameras; that footage makes up most of the 98-minute documentary. After checking things out, police on the scene usually assessed the kids’ behavior as that of typical children.
But Lorincz’s behavior as a 58-year-old adult at the time of the shooting was far more troubling. Despite declaring herself “like, the perfect neighbor,” Lorincz, who is white, allegedly cursed at the neighborhood children and called them “slaves.” When detectives asked about her use of a racial slur, she admits, “It could’ve slipped out.” (The local kids in question were of various races; Owens and her children were Black.)
“I was always taught (using racial epithets) meant that you were just being unlawful, dirty,” she says. “I don’t know, generally not being pleasant.”
At times, Lorincz and Owens exchanged heated words. On Feb 25, 2022, for example, Lorincz told officers that Owens had thrown a No Trespassing sign at her, which Owens denied at the time.
Owens is described in the documentary as a devoted mom, “Someone who sacrificed for their children to have private school, football lessons, gymnastics, dance, everything.”
Ajike Owens was fatally shot by her neighbor on June 2, 2023 in Ocala, Florida.
Why did Susan Lorincz kill Ajike Owens?
In the documentary, Owens’ son Israel tells an officer that on June 2, 2023, he went across the street to retrieve his tablet. He says Lorincz had his tablet, and he directed her to put it down.
“She put it down and then tried to throw … roller skates at me,” he says. Israel then sought the help of his older brother Isaac. Lorincz called them both jacka—-, Israel says. “So I got my mother. She kept on banging on the door. (Lorincz) shot her.”
Calling 911 for the second time after a first complaint minutes earlier, Lorincz reports shooting Owens.
Pamela Dias, mom of Ajike Owens, comforts her granddaughter Afrika at a remembrance for Owens June 8, 2023 at the Immerse Church of Ocala.
In her call, she tells the operator she believed Owens “was going to kill me” when she arrived at her home.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Lorincz says between panicked breaths. “I grabbed my gun, and I shot at the door.”
A bullet from Lorincz’s .380-caliber gun went through her front door and struck Owens in the right side of her chest. Owens was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Susan Lorincz resists arrest: ‘I don’t care, kill me’
While being questioned days later on June 6, 2023, Lorincz says she declined to speak to Owens on the night in question and directed her to go away. She says there was silence followed by Owens’ “pounding” on her door. Lorincz estimates that it was about 10 minutes from the time she hung up with 911 the first time until Owens came to her house to confront her. But according to call logs, only two minutes passed from the end of the first call and placing of the second.
“In the reality of things you had just disconnected,” Detective Ryan Stith says in the interrogation footage. “Within two minutes, a shot was fired through that door.” Neither Stith nor Detective Daniel Pinder, who joined Stith for questioning, are able to make sense of Lorincz’s actions in that time frame. Stith informs Lorincz she’s being charged with manslaughter.
When they try to arrest Lorincz, she repeatedly refuses to cooperate.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this,” she offers.
“What you’re saying and doing right now is not reasonable,” Pinder tells her. “This is why we’re in this position here, Susan, is because the decisions you make are not reasonable.”
He tells her: “There’s no changing this. There’s no stopping it.” She replies, “I don’t care, kill me.” She eventually relents and is taken for booking.
Susan Lorincz breaks down during her sentencing hearing on Nov. 25, 2024 at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala, Florida.
Susan Lorincz’s trial and conviction
Opening arguments began on Aug. 13, 2024. Days later, on Aug. 16, 2024, a jury debated for less than three hours before convicting Lorincz of manslaughter. As the verdict was revealed, Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias expressed her gratitude.
“Oh, God. Thank you. Thank you,” she said. Outside the courthouse, Dias said she was “very pleased with the jury, the prosecution, the verdict of guilty.”
Owens’ family said they hoped Lorincz would be sentenced to 30 years, the maximum. She was ultimately sentenced to 25 years on Nov. 25, 2024, and is serving her time at Homestead Correctional Institution in South Florida.
Contributing: Austin L. Miller, USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Perfect Neighbor revisits death of Ajike Owens. A look at the case
