Important questions have been raised on the 'Stand Your Ground' defence, after a woman attempted to justify the murder of her neighbour in a harrowing new Netflix documentary.
The Perfect Neighbor - an unnerving, feature-length true-crime film - landed on the streaming service last week (17 Oct), detailing the fatal 2023 shooting of mother-of-four Ajike 'AJ' Owens by the woman across the street, Susan Lorincz.
Using police body cam footage, as well as video doorbell recordings, custody CCTV clips and telephone audios, filmmakers attempted to use the case to demonstrate the racial bias rooted in the controversial self-defence claims, especially when used by white individuals against Black 'attackers'.
What happened to AJ Owens?
On 2 June 2023, 58-year-old Ocala, Florida Lorincz fired a single shotgun bullet through her locked front door, hitting restaurant worker AJ in the chest.
Minutes earlier, 35-year-old AJ had approached her neighbour's property and knocked loudly on the door, after hearing that Lorincz had throwing both a roller skate and an umbrella at her children for leaving an iPad on her lawn.
Both paramedics and her eldest son unsuccessfully attempted to perform CPR on AJ, but tragically, hours later, she was pronounced dead.
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In the two years prior, Lorincz had made ceaseless complaints to the police, claiming to have been harassed by the community of Black children living in the area, four of whom were AJ's - Isaac, 14, Israel 'Izzy', 12, Afrika, nine, and Titus, six. She also falsely claimed the group of youngsters had broken into her truck, left toys strewn across her yard, and constantly 'screamed like idiots', allegations neither fellow residents nor police footage could ever back up.
Less than two minutes prior to shooting AJ that evening, Lorincz had made another 911 call, telling the dispatcher she was 'scared' for her life following AJ's knocks, and begging for an officer to be dispatched to the area.
After being taken in for questioning, Lorincz insisted she'd acted in self-defence.
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"I panicked and I thought, 'Oh my God, she's really going to kill me this time,' you know," she told Marion County officers. "And so I don't even actually remember picking up the gun, I just remember shooting."
With her plea, Lorincz sparked a nationwide debate over the possibility of her using the long-debated 'Stand Your Ground' defence in court to avoid being sentenced for murdering AJ.
'Stand Your Ground' law explained
Used in more than half of US states, this defence 'allows' for the use of deadly force when necessary for self-defence against violent crimes.
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It's important here to note, however, that a Texas study recently conducted found that white individuals are considerably more successful in claiming self-defence when enacting violence against a Black 'attacker', than the other way around (via CS Monitor).
More specifically, further research found that, in murder cases involving white perpetrators and Black victims, killings are five times more likely to be deemed justified under this defence in a court of law.
On top of this, following Florida's implementation of the 'Stand Your Ground' law in 2005, gun homicide cases sky-rocketed by 32 per cent, leaving Civil Rights leaders to brand the legislation a 'licence to kill' (via The Independent).
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With this in mind, investigators took five days to dig deep into Lorincz's history, not only finding that she'd contacted the authorities a dozen times to report her neighbour’s children for matters as tedious as noise, but she'd also used both racial and ableist slurs against them.
Asked about the latter by police, she admitted: "It could’ve slipped out. I was always taught (a certain racist word) meant that you were just being unlawful, dirty. I don’t know, generally not being pleasant."
Arguably more unnerving, is that Lorincz was found to have Googled the Stand Your Ground defence on her at-home computer around the time she killed the mother-of-four.
According to a judge, these factors negated the fact that Lorincz had shot AJ 'out of fear' or self-defence, as she'd once claimed. Instead, they agreed the crime was 'very aggravated'.
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Whilst finding Lorincz guilty of manslaughter jailing her for 25 years, the judge added of Lorincz: "At the time she fired the gun through the door, she was safe."
A warning from filmmakers
Ahead of the documentary's release last week, AJ's mother Pamela Dias spoke to Tudum about the film's vital aims.
Reflecting on the unsettling race-oriented statistic surrounding the 'Stand Your Ground' defence, the heartbroken grandmother claimed: "I feel my call to duty, I’m carrying on her spirit."
Dias added: "Through the film and the Standing in the Gap Fund [a family-led effort that responds to race-based violence by easing financial burdens and supporting community-rooted healing], I believe we raised the awareness about the need for greater understanding, for empathy and community precision as a vehicle to ultimately and hopefully prevent similar incidents from happening.
"It’s advocating for more compassion in the world, something that we really need in these dark times."
Such is also the message that The Perfect Neighbor producer Alisa Payne hopes to demonstrate in emphasising just how problematic the defence can be for certain minorities.
"Hopefully through [Owens's] legacy we can fight 'stand your ground' and other harmful policies," she also told the film and TV outlet. "It was very apparent on the other side of [Susan’s] calls, there were these great people.
"These are people who are parents raising their children."
Geeta Gandbhir - one of the doc's key filmmakers alongside Nikon Kwantu - agreed, adding that it highlights the need for a more in-depth legal examination into the use of the legal stance.
She added: "I hope to inspire a deeper understanding of the consequences of these laws and advocate for changes that can prevent more senseless tragedies in the future."
Viewers' reactions
By the sounds of things, the viral message that producers have attempted to convey with the eerie documentary has hit home with many viewers.
"The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix was so heartbreaking to watch," one X user penned in response. "I’m glad they exposed the implications of abusing the Stand Your Ground law though."
Another implored: "Florida needs to revise or remove the 'Stand Your Ground Law' immediately!!! Prayers to #AjikeOwens, Her boys and family."
"I’m watching The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix.. that stand your ground law in Florida is treacherous for black ppl," a third agreed.
Topics: Crime, Documentaries, Netflix, Real Life, TV And Film, True Crime, True Life, US News
Rhianna Benson