Everything Susan Lorincz Said About Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens Before and After Fatally Shooting Her By Caroline Blair

Ajike “AJ” Owens was a mother of four who was fatally shot by her neighbor Susan Lorincz on June 2, 2023.

Shortly after Lorincz, who is White, moved into the Ocala, Fla., neighborhood, she began calling 911 to complain about Owens’ children, who, like their mom, were Black, for playing loudly in a field close to her home.

Over the next two years, Lorincz continued calling authorities to criticize their behavior and made a series of allegations against them, including that they were trespassing and threatening her life. She also directly confronted and verbally harassed the kids on multiple occasions, according to NBC News.

Lorincz got into a final heated argument with Owens’ kids, who were between the ages of 3 and 12, on June 2. After she allegedly stole one of their tablets (she denies doing so) and called them racial slurs (which she admitted to later), she locked herself in her home, per the BBC. Owens’ kids told their mom about the incident, so she walked over to Lorincz’s door to confront her.

Lorincz then fired her gun and shot Owens through the locked door, hitting her in the chest. Owens died later that night as a result of the gunshot wound. Lorincz was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The Netflix documentary The Perfect Neighbor retold the story that originally gripped the nation at the time of Owens’ killing. In addition to sharing the sequence of events leading up to the shooting, the documentary also highlighted what Lorincz said to and about Owens.

Here’s everything that Susan Lorincz said about Ajike “AJ” Owens before and after fatally shooting her.

Lorincz alleged to police that Owens’ kids were “trespassing” on her property

Starting in January 2021, Lorincz called 911 more than half a dozen times to report on the children in her neighborhood. During those calls, Lorincz mostly claimed that the kids were “trespassing” on her property.

Police responded to “six to eight” incidents, per The New York Times, but the visits were all fruitless, because the kids were playing in an adjacent grassy area that she did not own. Several of the calls were recorded, and the police body camera footage was shown in The Perfect Neighbor.

In addition to calling about alleged trespassing, Lorincz also complained that some of the kids had yelled at her, bothered her and made too much noise, per the New York Post.

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She hurled “derogatory terms” at Owens’ children

Although Lorincz frequently complained about her neighbors to the authorities, she was also known to directly confront the children, calling them derogatory names and racist slurs. Several of the neighborhood children accused Lorincz of being racist, using “the n-word” and referred to her as a “Karen,” per Rolling Stone.

Some of the kids — including Owens’ — alleged that she gave them the middle finger and called them “Black slaves,” CNN reported in 2023. Owens’ youngest child specifically pointed to a time when Lorincz allegedly called him and his friends “bastards” and told them, “This isn’t the underground railroad, slave.”

During the course of 2021 and 2022, Lorincz maintained that she was the victim and even told authorities that she was “the perfect neighbor.” However, after she was arrested for shooting Owens, Lorincz confessed to using slurs.

“Lorincz admitted to having used ‘the n-word’ toward children out of anger in the past and also calling children other derogatory terms,” according to the arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.

Lorincz alleged to the authorities that Owens threw a sign at her in April 2023

Less than two months before Lorincz fatally shot Owens, she called 911 and claimed that Owens threw a sign at her. On April 25, 2023, police showed up to the Ocala neighborhood to diffuse the situation, according to body camera footage obtained by ABC News.

“I called because the woman across the street hit me with a sign,” Lorincz told sheriff deputies, referring to Owens. While Owens admitted to picking up a “private property” sign that Lorincz had placed and throwing it, she denied hitting Lorincz.

“I literally went and picked the sign up and as I walked off I threw the sign. I said I can go and buy a sign too, it still doesn’t mean anything,” Owens said.

A neighbor corroborated Owens’ story and told the police that all the mother of four did was “tell the lady to stop yelling at her kids.”

She claimed she felt “threatened” by Owens’ children on the night of the shooting

After shouting at two of Owens’ children on June 2, 2023, Lorincz called 911 and alleged that they were trespassing and threatening to hurt her.

“I’ve got kids trespassing. Leaving all their toys around. Just screaming, yelling, just being absolutely obnoxious,” she said, according to the tape obtained by PEOPLE. “I went and threw the roller skate over to the other side, the kid says he’s going to beat me up for that, and he’s mouthing off to me. I feel threatened in my own home.”

She continued, “There are several kids out there right now. I’m fearing for my life. I’m very scared.”

More than two years after the fatal shooting, Lorincz maintained her side of the story that the kids had trespassed on her property and threatened her life.

“The kid said, ‘I’m going to kill you. If I can’t kill you, I’m going to find someone to kill you,’ ” she claimed to WCJB from behind bars in September 2025.

Lorincz said she felt that Owens was “going to kill” her on the night of the shooting

Later on in the night on June 2, Lorincz had locked herself in her house when Owens knocked on her front door and demanded to know what had happened with her sons. Lorincz then shot her through the door.

She placed a second call to 911 just a few minutes after her first and claimed that she thought Owens was also “going to kill” her.

“Oh my God. This lady just tried to break down my door. I shot through the door. Oh my God,” she said in the second call. “The woman was screaming and yelling at me trying to break down my door. I didn’t know what to do. I grabbed my gun and shot at the door because I thought she was going to kill me.”

In her September 2025 prison interview, Lorincz doubled down on her version of the story and alleged that she thought it was a police officer knocking on her door; so, when she heard Owens’ voice, she became “terrified.”

“As soon as I said, ‘One minute,’ she went on the tirade, expletives and just horrible language, screaming at me, pounding on the door so hard,” she claimed to WCJB. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ I’m like, ‘You need to leave. You’re trespassing. You were told not to come here by the sheriff’s department. You know, you’re trespassing. You need to leave.’ ”

She further claimed, “Then she said, ‘I’m gonna f—— 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.”

Lorincz didn’t testify at her trial but maintained that she acted in self-defense

During her August 2024 trial, Lorincz did not take the stand, but her attorneys argued that she was acting in self-defense, per The New York Times. They also tried to apply Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves if they feel their lives are at risk.

However, prosecutors pointed out that Lorincz was behind a locked door, and Owens was unarmed when she approached the home. They also argued that her actions were “not justifiable under Florida law,” per CBS News.

After a week-long trial, the jury sided with the prosecutors and found Lorincz guilty of manslaughter.

Lorincz apologized at her sentencing

Lorincz publicly addressed the shooting for the first time at her sentencing hearing in November 2024.

“I am so sorry that I took AJ’s life. I never intended to kill her,” she said, per the BBC. “The night I shot that gun I was confused as to why she was screaming and pounding on my door. Please accept my humble and sincere apology for this tragedy.”

Lorincz also used the opportunity to claim that the shooting was “not about race.”

Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, responded, “Susan’s apology was a last-ditch attempt to save herself. It wasn’t sincere; she never showed remorse.” On the first anniversary of her daughter’s killing, Dias also said, “Justice would be this never happening from the get-go. Justice would be eradicating racism. Justice would be proper gun-reform laws,” per Central Florida Public Media.