What Are Stand Your Ground Laws? All About the Controversial Policy Behind AJ Owens and Susan Lorincz’s Tragic Encounter By Christopher Rudolph

In Netflix’s new documentary The Perfect Neighbor, “stand your ground” laws are at the center.

Composed mostly of police body camera footage, The Perfect Neighbor tells the tragic true story of Ajike “AJ” Owens, who, in 2023, was shot and killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz.

In 2024, Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to the Associated Press, during her trial, Lorincz’s legal team tried to argue that her actions fell under Florida’s stand your ground laws.

So, what are stand your ground laws? Here’s what to know about the controversial form of defense and how it’s involved in Netflix’s The Perfect Neighbor.

Stand your ground law allows individuals to use deadly force if they feel threatened

In traditional self-defense laws, if someone is being attacked outside of their home, they have a “duty to retreat” before resorting to using deadly force, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Stand your ground laws remove the duty to retreat, allowing individuals to legally defend themselves in public areas.

It expands upon the “castle doctrine,” which gives people the right to “use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect themselves against an intruder in their home.”

Florida was the first state to enact a stand your ground law

Florida, where The Perfect Neighbor takes place, was the first state to pass a modern stand your ground law in 2005, per The New York Times.

At the time, the National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbied for the bill’s passage, which was passed by the Florida House of Representatives and the Senate before then-Governor Jeb Bush signed it.

Throughout the process, there was opposition, with then-Chief of the Miami Police Department John Timoney calling it unnecessary and dangerous.

“It’s a clear position that we will stand with victims of violent attacks when the law is in their favor,” then-Representative Dennis K. Baxley of Ocala said. “People want to know we stand on the side of victims of crime instead of the side of criminals.”

Former NRA executive Wayne LaPierre added that the law would be introduced nationwide. In the past 20 years, nearly 30 states have followed Florida and passed their own stand your ground laws, according to FindLaw.

Stand your ground laws have been attributed to an increase in gun violence and death

After Florida’s stand your ground law was backed by the NRA, the organization lobbied for it in multiple other states, according to Mother Jones. In the years since, the law has reportedly resulted in more gun violence and homicides, rather than deterring.

“Several studies have found an increase between eight and 11 percent in homicides in states after they adopt these laws,” Robert Spitzer, author of The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights, told PBS in April 2023.

Stand your ground laws also have a history of disproportionately affecting communities of color and Black people. According to the Urban Institute, “the odds that a white-on-black homicide is ruled to have been justified is more than 11 times the odds a black-on-white shooting is ruled justified.”

“These laws are often weaponized by people,” The Perfect Neighbor director Geeta Gandbhir told The Guardian in October 2025. “You just have to prove that you had a well-founded fear that your life was in danger. This is incredibly dangerous for people of color, who are often criminalized and seen as a threat.”

Susan Lorincz’s legal team claimed she was legally justified under Florida’s stand your ground law

Two years of tension between Owens’ family and Lorincz culminated in an altercation between Owens’ children and Lorincz. Afterward, Owens knocked on Lorincz’s door and asked to speak, but instead of answering, Lorincz called 911 and claimed that she felt threatened.

A dispatcher told Lorincz to remain inside while police were on the way, but she grabbed a .380-caliber handgun and shot through the door, according to The New York Times. Owens was shot in her chest, and after her children called 911, she was transported to a hospital, where she died.

Lorincz was not charged immediately following Owens’ death. According to The New York Times, due to Florida’s stand your ground law, investigators had to examine “whether deadly force was justified or not before [they made] an arrest.”

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, authorities were able to determine “that Lorincz’s actions were not justifiable under Florida law.”

Lorincz’s legal team also tried to argue her actions fell under stand your ground laws, but the jury rejected the argument, according to NPR. She was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Per Orlando’s News 6 WKMG, when Judge Robert Hodges read the sentence, he said he believed Lorincz “acted more out of anger than out of fear.”

The family of AJ Owens is fighting to repeal Florida’s stand your ground law

In November 2024, Owens’ family and friends announced the creation of the Standing in the Gap Fund in honor of Owens.

According to the Standing in the Gap website, the fund “was created to support families like AJ’s who are suffering from loss and unsure of how to navigate the aftermath.”

The organization will also work to make legislative change, “particularly towards the repeal of stand your ground,” Owen’s friend Takema Robinson said, per WESH News.