A feud between Ocala, Florida, neighbors escalated for more than two years, eventually reaching a deadly climax.
A new documentary revisits the tragic confrontation in a unique way. Streaming on Netflix starting Friday, October 17, The Perfect Neighbor exclusively uses police body camera footage and other evidential materials to detail the prolonged rift between Susan Lorincz and Ajike “AJ” Owens.
Tensions reached a boiling point in June 2023 when Lorincz shot and killed Owens, making national headlines and sparking heated debate on Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” laws. The new film gives viewers the opportunity to watch the events leading to their fatal confrontation—and draw their own conclusions about what happened in their tight-knit community.
What is The Perfect Neighbor about?
The Perfect Neighbor offers a never-before-seen look at the dispute between neighbors Lorincz and Owens.
On June 2, 2023, Lorincz, then 58, contacted police as part of a series of ongoing disagreements with her neighbor, 35-year-old Owens. Marion County authorities responded to at least six calls regarding the feud—primarily about Owens’ four children walking and playing near Lorincz’s lawn—starting in January 2021.
According to an arrest affidavit, neighbors reported Lorincz frequently yelled at children playing in the area and called authorities with false reports. The document also said Lorincz, who is white, used racial slurs against Owens’ children, who are Black, during the series of altercations—though Lorincz later denied this.
This culminated in the pair’s final conflict, when Owens confronted Lorincz after she allegedly threw a roller skate at one of the children. During the argument, Lorincz shot Owens through the locked front door of her home with a .380-caliber handgun, resulting in her death.
Lorincz was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to prison
Lorincz was arrested five days after the shooting and later charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault.
Lorincz maintained she shot Owens out of fear for her life—testing Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which permit the use of deadly force in self-defense under certain conditions. Her legal team also claimed a history of mental illness—including PTSD from suffering years of sexual and other forms of abuse—exacerbated her terror.
Conversely, Owens’ family and prosecutors argued the violence was excessive and, potentially, racially motivated.
Lorincz didn’t testify in her own defense at trial and, in August 2024, a six-person jury found her guilty of manslaughter. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Judge Robert Hodges, who oversaw the case, determined Lorincz was under no imminent threat and found the shooting “completely unnecessary” in his ruling.
“I am so sorry I took AJ’s life. I never intended to kill her,” Lorincz said.
Where is Susan Lorincz now?
Lorincz is currently incarcerated at the Homestead Correctional Institution in Homestead, Florida, and has a projected release date of April 8, 2048, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
She has since spoken publicly about the confrontation with Owens and maintains her actions were justified. Lorincz alleged Owens and three of her children made verbal threats against her during the dispute that led to the fatal shooting in an interview with Gainesville, Florida, television station WCJB20 in September 2025. She claims she tripped over roller skates near her sidewalk and asked the kids to remove them, but they refused.
“And I said, ‘Kids, pick up your skates and please leave. You’re trespassing. You know you’re trespassing,’ and the kid said, ‘I’m going to kill you. If I can’t kill you, I’m going to find someone to kill you,’” Lorincz told reporter Robert Bradfield.
She alleges that, soon after, Owens began loudly banging on her front door using “expletives and just horrible language, screaming at me” and refused to leave. “Then she said, ‘I’m gonna f—king kill you.’ And I went, ‘Oh my God,’ and she’s pounding and she’s pounding and she’s pounding, and I just, you know, I was terrified,” she continued.
Lorincz added Owens’ death “makes me sick” and “breaks my heart.”
Owens’ family permitted the use of police footage for the documentary
Owens’ family pursued further accountability for her killing, submitting a wrongful death lawsuit against Lorincz in July 2025 in Marion County.
“The past two years have been the hardest, toughest journey I’ve ever been on. It’s been filled with grief, sadness, despair,” Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, said weeks prior to the filing. The current status of the lawsuit is unknown.
Dias played an integral role in the making of The Perfect Neighbor. According to The Guardian, her lawyers used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to force police to release all footage from the case, including bodycam video, security footage, and phone calls made by Lorincz. She then gave permission for director Geeta Gandbhir to use the materials in the documentary.
“I showed Pam the film when it was completed,” Gandbhir explained, “and I said, ‘Is this what you want?’ She said, ‘Yes—the world needs to know what happened to my baby.’”
Watch The Perfect Neighbor starting October 17
Gandbhir—a two-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Picture Editing for the doumentaries When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) and By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009)—describes the documentary as a “deeply personal project, created to transform grief into purpose and honor the lasting legacy of Ajike Owens and her family.”
The Perfect Neighbor begins streaming on Netflix Friday, October 17.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
