Case Closed?
Up for review this week is Netflix’s newest documentary: The Perfect Neighbor. This one is unlike the others, and in many different ways. First, it is shown through body cam footage, building up the story to the murder. There is some terrible content in this one; I did cry watching it.
The story is one of Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four living in Marion County, Florida. On June 2nd, 2023, Ajike was murdered by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz.
The story begins over a year prior, with Susan calling the police to report the neighborhood children playing on her property. After further investigation, the children are allowed to play in that space as they were permitted by the neighbor who owns it, which is not Susan.
Susan calls the police almost a dozen times over the next year or so, claiming that the children are fighting with her, yelling at her, coming onto her porch, etc. There is a prior incident between Ajike and Susan, as Susan begins yelling at Ajike for walking her dog on “Susan’s property” (it was the public sidewalk in the neighborhood). Ajike fights back and tells her to take her “No Trespassing” signs back by picking one out of the ground and throwing it beside Susan, which Susan claims was hit by her. This is confirmed false by many other neighbors and the neighbors' kids.
Additionally, Susan had been reported to call the children names such as the n-word, bitches, jackasses, “little shits”, and many more. This shows the beginning of a racially motivated crime rooted in anger and hate.
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On June 2, 2023, around 9 pm, Susan takes Ajike’s son’s tablet from him, for reasons unknown. Her son Izzy tells Ajike, who heads over to retrieve it. She is angry, rightfully so, and pounds on the door twice before Susan shoots her through her closed and dead-bolted front door. Ajike is shot in the chest and passes during transport to the hospital.
This is where the body cam footage becomes horrific. There is footage of police arriving on scene, Ajike lying on the ground after being shot, and worst of all: the police telling her children she did not make it. Ajike’s ex-husband arrives to gather the kids, where they tell him she jas passed. This footage is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. Additionally, when their father breaks the news to his kids, it gets worse. I broke down into full tears. This documentary is a very hard watch, and I would not recommend it if you are not prepared to be very upset.
Around a week later, the police had gathered enough evidence to arrest Susan and charge her with manslaughter. During this process, the police discover that Susan had been researching Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which allows for self-defense, even if it ends in a fatality. Susan is sentenced to 25 years due to this compelling evidence against her.
I do wish Susan had been charged with murder, but her receiving the maximum sentence was justice served. I do believe she will die in prison over this time, as this is a more recent photo of her, and she is disheveled.
Unfortunately, this documentary affected me in ways I did not expect. As someone who likes to learn more about crimes, this one was too heartbreaking to watch in real time. That being said, it is an important story to be told as we hope the police can prevent these aggressive and racial crimes from occurring as frequently.
