‘The Perfect Neighbor’ Examines a Shocking Neighborhood Feud That Turned Fatal

A feud between Ocala, Florida, neighbors escalated for greater than two years, finally reaching a lethal climax.

An Oscar-nominated documentary function revisits the tragic confrontation in a distinctive method. Now streaming on Netflix, The Perfect Neighbor completely makes use of police physique digicam footage and different evidential supplies to element the extended rift between Susan Lorincz and Ajike “AJ” Owens.

Tensions reached a boiling level in June 2023 when Lorincz shot and killed Owens, making nationwide headlines and sparking heated debate over Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” legal guidelines. The new movie offers viewers the chance to look at the occasions resulting in their deadly confrontation—and draw their very own conclusions about what occurred of their tight-knit group.

What is The Perfect Neighbor about?

The Perfect Neighbor provides a never-before-seen have a look at the dispute between neighbors Lorincz and Owens.

On June 2, 2023, Lorincz, then 58, contacted police as a part of a collection of ongoing disagreements together with her neighbor, 35-year-old Owens. Marion County authorities respond to at least six calls relating to the feud—primarily about Owens’ 4 kids strolling and taking part in close to Lorincz’s garden—beginning in January 2021.

According to an arrest affidavitneighbors reported Lorincz continuously yelled at kids taking part in within the space and known as authorities with false experiences. The doc additionally stated Lorincz, who’s white, used racial slurs in opposition to Owens’ kids, who’re Black, through the collection of altercations—though Lorincz later denied this.

This culminated within the pair’s closing battle, when Owens confronted Lorincz after she allegedly threw a curler skate at one of many kids. During the argument, Lorincz shot Owens by means of the locked entrance door of her dwelling with a .380-caliber handgun, leading to her loss of life.

Lorincz was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to jail

Lorincz was arrested 5 days after the capturing and later charged with manslaughter with a firearm, responsible negligence, battery, and two counts of assault.

Lorincz maintained she shot Owens out of concern for her life—testing Florida’s “stand your ground” legal guidelines, which permitted the use of deadly force in self-defense below sure situations. Her authorized workforce additionally claimed a historical past of psychological sickness—together with PTSD from struggling years of sexual and different types of abuse—exacerbated her terror.

Conversely, Owens’ household and prosecutors argued the violence was extreme and, doubtlessly, racially motivated.

Lorincz didn’t testify in his personal protection at trial and, in August 2024, a six-person jury discovered him responsible of manslaughter. She was sentenced to 25 years in jail. Judge Robert Hodges, who oversaw the case, decided Lorincz was below no imminent menace and located the capturing “completely unnecessary” in his ruling.

“I am so sorry I took AJ’s life. I never intended to kill her,” Lorincz stated.

Where is Susan Lorincz now?

Lorincz is at present incarcerated on the Homestead Correctional Institution in Homestead, Florida, and has a projected launch date of February 18, 2048, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

She has since spoken publicly in regards to the confrontation with Owens and maintains her actions had been justified. Lorincz alleged Owens and three of her kids made verbal threats in opposition to her through the dispute that led to the deadly capturing in an interview with Gainesville, Florida, tv station WCJB20 in September 2025. She claims she tripped over curler skates close to her sidewalk and requested the youngsters to take away them, however 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 advised reporter Robert Bradfield.

She alleges that, quickly after, Owens started loudly banging on her entrance door utilizing “expletives and just horrible language, screaming at me” and refused to go away. “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’ household pursued additional accountability for her killing, submitting a wrongful death lawsuit in opposition to Lorincz in July 2025 in Marion County.

“The previous two years have been the toughest, hardest journey I’ve ever been on. It’s been full of grief, unhappiness, despair,” Owens’ mom, Pamela Dias, said weeks previous to submitting. The present standing of the lawsuit is unknown.

In November 2025, the Ocala Gazette reported that Lorincz expressed plans to countersue Dias and three surviving kids of Owens for “slander, libel and defamation of character, for damages that exceed $50,000” in response.

Dias performed an integral position within the making of The Perfect Neighbor. According to Guardianher attorneys used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to power police to launch all footage from the case, together with bodycam video, safety footage, and cellphone calls made by Lorincz. She then gave permission for director Geeta Gandbhir to make use of the supplies within the documentary.

“I confirmed Pam the movie when it was accomplished,” Gandbhir explained, “and I stated, ‘Is this what you need?’ She stated, ‘Yes—the world must know what occurred to my child.’”

watch The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix

Gandbhir—a two-time Emmy winner for Outstanding Picture Editing for the paperwork When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) and By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009)—describe 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 is streaming on Netflix and nominated for Best Documentary Feature on the 2026 Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15.

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