The Perfect Neighbor Analysis: Unpacking a Notorious Incident Via the Lens of a Florida Officer's Body-Cam

The true crime category has a new medium, or perhaps even a whole new language and structure: officer-worn camera recordings. Countenances of those harmed, witnesses and possible perpetrators appear suddenly to the cameras, sometimes in the harsh glare of vehicle beams or flashlights as the police arrive, their faces and voices eloquent of wariness or panic or indignation or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the faces of the officers themselves, one standing by blankly while the other asks the questions with what occasionally seems like remarkable hesitation – though perhaps this is because they know they are being recorded.

An Emerging Pattern in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have previously seen the Netflix true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her boyfriend, whose main point of interest was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the police seemed extraordinarily lax with the suspect. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, made exclusively of body cam film. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the tragic incident of Ajike Owens in a city in Florida, a African American woman whose four young kids reportedly bothered and tormented her white neighbour, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighborhood conflicts in which the police were repeatedly called, Lorincz shot Owens dead through her closed front door, when Owens went to the neighbor's residence to address her about throwing objects at her children.

The Investigation and State Laws

The arresting officers found proof that Lorincz had done online research into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which permit residents and others to shoot if there is a reasonable belief of danger. The documentary builds its story with the body cam footage captured during the multiple officer calls to the scene before the killing, and then at the horrific and chaotic crime scene itself – prefaced by emergency call recordings of the caller calling the police in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also jail video of the individual which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Portrayal of the Accused

The documentary does not really imply anything too complicated about the neighbor, or any mitigating factors. She is obviously disturbed, although the kids are heard calling her “the Karen”, an hurtful taunt. The film is showcased as an example of how “stand your ground” laws lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking bloodshed. But the reality of firearm possession and the constitutional right (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a deceased pundit notoriously said made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much highlighted.

Police Interrogation and Firearm Norms

It is possible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel astonished at how little interest the officers took in this point. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? Where did she store it in the house? Was it just on the couch, loaded and ready? The police aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they may have done in footage that didn’t make the edit). Or is possessing a firearm so commonplace it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or toasters?

Arrest and Aftermath

For what seemed to her neighbors a very long time, the suspect was not even arrested and charged, only detained and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another parallel, by the way, with the Gabby Petito case). And when she was finally formally arrested in the holding cell, there is an remarkable scene in which the individual simply declines to rise, refuses to put her wrists out for the handcuffs, not aggressively, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose psychological state means that she just can’t do it. Had the kid-gloves treatment up until that point encouraged her to think that this could be effective?

Conclusion and Verdict

It was not successful; and the panel's decision is revealed in the closing credits. A very sombre picture of American crime and punishment.