Where Did “The Perfect Neighbor ”Take Place? What to Know About the Florida Community Where Ajike 'AJ' Shantrell Owens Was Fatally Shot

The Perfect Neighbor tells nan tragic communicative of a decease successful a Florida community.

The Netflix documentary uses assemblage camera footage to stock nan bid of events that led up to Susan Lorincz, an aged White woman, fatally shooting her Black neighbor, Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens, a 35-year-old azygous mother of four.

The incidents began successful early 2021, erstwhile Lorincz called nan constabulary half a twelve times pinch complaints astir Owens' children. She claimed they were trespassing connected her property, though they were really playing successful a section that was privately owned by a man who allowed entree to neighbors. Tensions escalated successful nan months that followed, and Lorincz began video-recording her neighbor's children, threatening to hit them and utilizing group slurs.

On June 2, 2023, Owens walked crossed nan thoroughfare to Lorincz's location aft she had an altercation pinch 1 of Owens' 4 children. Lorincz past changeable Owens done nan locked door, telling constabulary she had feared for her life. In nan end, she was found blameworthy of manslaughter connected Aug. 16, 2024, and sentenced to 25 years successful prison.

Here's everything to cognize astir wherever The Perfect Neighbor took place.

Where did The Perfect Neighbor return place?

The Perfect Neighbor is group successful Ocala, Fla., which is portion of Marion County.

Lorincz and Owens lived crossed nan thoroughfare from each different successful Quail Run, a vicinity filled pinch young, working-class families, per nan New Yorker. At nan time, Lorincz was surviving unsocial successful a rented location connected nan block.

How did Marion County respond to nan shooting?

Marion County constabulary officers took respective days to analyse nan shooting. Dozens of group protested nan deficiency of an apprehension successful nan days pursuing nan incident, according to news footage featured successful nan documentary.

Five days aft nan shooting, connected June 7, 2023, nan Marion County Sheriff’s Office released an charismatic update via a video statement announcing Lorincz’s apprehension and addressing nan disapproval they had faced.

"Many of you were struggling to understand why location was not an contiguous arrest," Sheriff Billy Woods said. "Sometimes erstwhile we do these investigations of cases of this level, rushing successful to make an apprehension is not nan correct point to do sometimes."

He added, "In fact, it could astir apt origin complications aliases errors, because we want to guarantee what we present, that justness is served each nan measurement done nan courts and that nan individual gets what they deserve."

Owens' mother, Pamela Dias, organized a ceremonial work for her daughter, which took spot connected June 12, 2023. There, Rev. Al Sharpton gave a eulogy wherever he addressed Owens' children directly.

"Too often successful our communities — often successful nan Black organization — each we tin dangle connected is our mothers," he said. "Don't you consciousness blameworthy astir nothing. Your mother chose to guidelines successful danger's measurement for you. She chose you complete her. That's what mothers do."

Dias has since cofounded a nonprofit successful grant of Owens called the Standing successful nan Gap Fund, which intends to financially support families impacted by racist violence. The group besides fights for legislative change, peculiarly successful narration to Stand Your Ground laws, which Lorincz utilized successful her defense.

What is Florida’s Stand Your Ground law?

Stand Your Ground laws let anyone who believes their life to beryllium successful threat to usage lethal unit connected immoderate perceived threat and wholly region nan work to retreat successful a nationalist space, according to nonprofit statement Brady: United Against Gun Violence.

Per The New York Times, nan first 1 was passed successful Florida successful 2005 and allows group to usage firearms aliases different deadly unit to take sides themselves successful nationalist places without first trying to escape.

In footage successful nan documentary from erstwhile Lorincz was questioned by police, she admitted to having known astir Florida's Stand Your Ground rule but denied having researched it intentionally up of nan incident.

As shared successful nan extremity of nan documentary, Stand Your Ground laws person been linked to an 8% to 11% summation successful homicide rates — adjacent to astir 700 further deaths annually.

How was The Perfect Neighbor filmed?

The documentary is told almost wholly utilizing constabulary assemblage camera and information footage to picture nan bid of incidents that yet led to Owens' death. The clips were made disposable acknowledgment to nan Freedom of Information Act.

Owens' mother's lawyer utilized nan norm to get nan footage from constabulary assemblage cameras, arsenic good arsenic information cameras, compartment phones and audio of telephone calls made by Lorincz, per The Guardian. When making nan film, head Geeta Gandbhir told nan outlet that she knew nan nationalist wouldn't "doubt its authenticity" if they utilized nan existent footage.

"There was nary newsman connected nan crushed pinch bias," nan filmmaker said. "Right now, location is simply a batch of uncertainty astir nan authenticity of things. I believed that group would spot what they were seeing arsenic it unfolded."

She went connected to opportunity that constabulary assemblage camera footage for group of colour is often seen arsenic a "violent tool," a measurement for constabulary to "come into our communities" and usage it to "criminalize and dehumanize us, to warrant unit they whitethorn perpetrate against nan community."

However, successful The Perfect Neighbor, they wanted to "take this footage and flip it connected its head."

Meanwhile, Tameka Robinson, who worked connected nan movie alongside Gandbhir and whose sister was Owens' champion friend, told PEOPLE successful October 2025 that nan assemblage cam footage helped show nan afloat image of what happened.

"For me, arsenic a Black woman, it vindicates A.J. for knocking connected nan doorway successful defense of her child," she said. "Often, we only spot what happens afterwards. But because this movie is changeable from nan nonsubjective constituent of position of constabulary assemblage cam footage, what led up to this is irrefutable."