Behind ‘The Perfect Neighbor’: What Netflix Left Out
Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor is one of the streaming service’s most unsettling true-crime documentaries of the year — not because of dramatic narration or reenactments, but because it doesn’t use either. The film, made almost entirely of police body camera footage and home security recordings, pieces together the killing of Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, a 35-year-old mother of four who was shot and killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz, in Ocala, Florida, on June 2, 2023.
The documentary captures the immediate aftermath of the shooting and the escalating tension between the two women that led up to it. Lorincz was convicted of manslaughter in August 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison three months later. But even with its raw, unfiltered footage, The Perfect Neighbor leaves out key context about Owens’ life, her family’s ongoing legal battles, and the larger issues surrounding the case.
Here are some of the most significant details the documentary doesn’t show — and why they matter.
A Portrait of AJ Owens the Mother, Not Just the Victim
While the film documents the confrontation that ended Owens’ life, it barely touches on who she was before that night. Owens was a hardworking single mother of four — Isaac, Afrika, Titus, and Israel — and was known in her community as caring, generous, and protective of children.
She was amazing. She was a great mother to her kids. She always went to work and came straight home to her kids,” her neighbor, Phyllis Wills, told The ReidOut on MSNBC in June 2023. “When she came outside with her children, she would throw football with not only her kids, but all of the kids.
Owens worked as a manager at a McDonald’s off Highway 326 in Ocala, according to The Ocala Gazette. Friends said she found joy in simple family moments — cheering from the sidelines at football games or organizing rides for kids whose parents couldn’t attend practice. That side of Owens — the mother, the mentor, the friend — is almost entirely absent from The Perfect Neighbor.
How the Body Camera Footage Was Obtained
The documentary’s realism comes from its use of police body cam footage, but what the film doesn’t explain is how that footage was secured. According to The Guardian, lawyers representing Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain all available recordings — including body cam videos, home security clips, cell phone footage, and 911 calls made by Lorincz herself.
Director Geeta Gandbhir told The Guardian that using public records was key to preserving authenticity. “I felt the public would never doubt its authenticity. There was no reporter on the ground with bias,” she said.
Gandbhir, who has a long history of documentary filmmaking focused on racial justice, said she wanted to “flip” how body camera footage is usually used — transforming a tool often seen as a mechanism of control or criminalization into one that reveals truth.
The Ongoing Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The Perfect Neighbor ends with Lorincz’s conviction, but the Owens family’s fight for justice did not end there. In July 2025, Owens’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lorincz and her landlord, Charles Gabbard, in Marion County, Florida.
The lawsuit, reported by WCJB News, seeks at least $50,000 in damages, alleging that Lorincz’s actions and Gabbard’s failure to maintain a safe property both contributed to Owens’ death. “The past two years have been the hardest, toughest journey I’ve ever been on,” said Dias in June 2025, according to WFTV News. “It’s been filled with grief, sadness, despair.”
The case remains ongoing, with Owens’ family continuing to push for accountability beyond Lorincz’s prison sentence.
A Legacy of Advocacy
In November 2024, months after Lorincz’s sentencing, Owens’ mother and family friend Takema Robinson launched the Standing in the Gap Fund to honor her life and continue her legacy. According to Fox 35 Orlando, the fund’s mission is to provide emotional and financial support to families who experience similar tragedies.
The organization also advocates for the repeal of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which Lorincz’s defense team invoked to delay her arrest. “It’s an archaic law,” Dias said on PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton. “Many racist people stand behind that law in terms of shooting people of color… It’s just a tool to justify unnecessary killings.”
The fund aims to raise $3.5 million by 2030 for family support services and legal reform initiatives.
What The Perfect Neighbor Leaves Viewers to Consider
While The Perfect Neighbor delivers a gripping, immediate look into the fatal encounter and the justice process, it leaves much unsaid about who Owens was, how her family continues to fight in her name, and the broader systemic issues that shaped her death.
By focusing almost entirely on footage from the scene, the documentary offers a raw depiction of tragedy but sacrifices the depth of humanity behind it. Owens was more than a victim of a neighborhood dispute; she was a mother, a mentor, and a symbol of a community demanding change.
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