How Many Times Did Susan Lorincz Call 911 Before Killing AJ Owens? The Timeline Behind The Perfect Neighbor By Caroline Blair

Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens was tragically shot and killed by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz, on June 2, 2023.

However, two years prior to the devastating shooting, tensions in the neighborhood of Ocala, Fla., had been slowly escalating. Beginning in January 2021, Lorincz, who is White, made half a dozen calls to 911 complaining about the children in her neighborhood — sometimes, concerning Owens’ four young kids, who are Black. As Lorincz got more irritated with the children, she’d place “No trespassing” signs in an open field located near her rental apartment, file police reports about them and yell racial slurs at them, per CBS News. Lorincz even allegedly waved guns at them, according to NBC News.

The two years of tension reached a boiling point on June 2, 2023, when Lorincz and two of Owens’ children got into a particularly heated exchange, according to the outlet. When Owens began knocking on Lorincz’s door to confront her, Lorincz shot Owens through her locked door, despite knowing that police were on their way due to a previous 911 call. Owens died as a result of the gunshot later that night, according to CBS News.

The tragic story, which has been chronicled in the Netflix documentary The Perfect Neighbor, resulted in Lorincz being charged with manslaughter with a firearm. She was found guilty of Owens’ murder in August 2024 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The Perfect Neighbor details the two years leading up to Owens’ murder. Here’s everything to know about the events leading up to Susan Lorincz fatally shooting her neighbor, Ajike “AJ” Shantrell Owens.

Susan Lorincz moved into a rental home in Ocala, Fla., in 2020

Lorincz moved into a rental apartment in Ocala, Fla., according to court records obtained by News 6 Orlando.

However, less than a year after Lorincz joined the community, she developed issues with many of the residents and became known for harassing the children.

“Everybody in this neighborhood has feuded with this lady over our children,” local resident Phyllis Wills told NBC News in June 2023.

In 2021, Lorincz began calling 911 to complain about children playing near her home

Beginning in January 2021, Lorincz called the police a number of times about the neighborhood children. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods later shared in a 2023 news conference that between 2021 to 2023, authorities responded to “six to eight” incidents, per The New York Times.

In addition to complaining about the children “trespassing” on the field next to her apartment — which was not owned by her — Lorincz also alleged that the kids were yelling at her, threatening her life and playing too loudly, per the New York Post.

Meanwhile, Lorincz also developed a reputation among her fellow neighbors, who called her 911 calls “false reports,” per the arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE at the time.

“[The neighbor] advised that Lorincz is known to harass the children by video recording them with her phone as they play in the open field between the apartment buildings and that Lorincz believes that area belongs to her,” the affidavit read.

Fellow resident Lauren Smith told the Associated Press in June 2023 that Lorincz “was angry all the time that the children were playing out there” and that she would say “nasty things” to the kids.

Lorincz has admitted to using racial slurs and hate speech against the children

In addition to calling 911 to report incidents about the neighborhood children, Lorincz would also confront the children herself. After her 2023 arrest, Lorincz admitted to hurling racial slurs at the children, according to the arrest affidavit.

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

The neighborhood children who were victims of Lorincz’s rants also alleged that during one confrontation, she “came out of her house and gave the children the middle finger,” per CNN. The child also alleged that Lorincz told them, “Get away from my house, you Black slave.”

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Owens’ youngest child added that Lorincz allegedly called him and his friends “bastards.” He further claimed that Lorincz once said, “This isn’t the underground railroad, slave.”

Despite Lorincz verbally harassing the children, she maintained that she was the victim and even once told authorities that she was the “perfect neighbor.”

Lorincz and Owens’ kids got into a heated altercation on June 2, 2023

After two years of tension, Lorincz and the Owens children got into an intense altercation on June 2, 2023. Owens’ kids were playing outside and in the field near her apartment when she started arguing with them, per The New York Times.

Lorincz allegedly yelled at them and screamed racial slurs at them, the kids said in the affidavit. The incident escalated when one of the kids noticed that his iPad was missing after he left it in the field and claimed that Lorincz took it.

When the 9-year-old asked Lorincz to return it, he claimed that Lorincz subsequently threw it on the ground and yelled at him. She escalated in anger and allegedly threw a roller skate at him and hit him in the toe, per CNN. The kid’s older brother confronted Lorincz and told her, “You want to throw something, throw it at me,” before she came out swinging an umbrella at him.

At 8:54 p.m., Lorincz placed her first 911 call of the evening to report the incident, while the brothers went home to tell Owens about the situation, per CBS News.

Lorincz told 911 dispatchers that she felt “threatened” by the kids

On June 2, 2023, Lorincz placed two 911 calls. In the first call, she accused the Owens siblings of trespassing on her property and threatening to fight her.

“I’ve got kids trespassing. Leaving all their toys around. Just screaming, yelling, just being absolutely obnoxious,” she said about the children, according to the 911 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 added, “There are several kids out there right now. I’m fearing for my life. I’m very scared.”

The 911 dispatcher subsequently told Lorincz to stay inside her home and lock her doors and windows while an officer was on the way.

However, just minutes later, police received information about shots fired in the same area. Lorincz called 911 for a second time around that same time.

“Oh my God. This lady just tried to break down my door. I shot through the door. Oh my God,” she said of Owens 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.”

Owens was shot and killed by Lorincz later that night

At the same time that Lorincz was making her first call to 911, the Owens kids filled their mom in on the situation. Owens walked over to Lorincz’s apartment with her 9-year-old son, Israel, to confront her.

Owens “knocked on the door multiple times, and demanded that Lorincz come outside,” per the affidavit. Even though Lorincz had just gotten instructions from a 911 dispatcher and knew the police were on their way, she grabbed a .380-caliber handgun and shot through the door, per The New York Times.

Owens was shot in the right side of her chest while Israel stood next to her. One of the children called 911 to report the shot at 9:04 p.m., and she died in the hospital later that night on June 2, 2023, per CBS News.

After Lorincz shot Owens, she claimed that Owens threatened to kill her and she acted out of self-defense and fear for her life. Lorincz was not immediately arrested after shooting Owens because of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law that allows individuals to defend themselves if they are fearing their life.

However, authorities later arrested Lorincz and charged her with Owens’ murder after they determined that Lorincz’s actions were “not justifiable under Florida law,” according to CBS News. She was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault on June 7, 2023.

In August 2024, Lorincz was convicted and was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.