On June 2, 2023, Susan Lorincz fatally shot her neighbor, Ajike “AJ” Owens. Her death and the events leading up to it are chronicled in a new Netflix documentary, The Perfect Neighbor, released on the streaming giant on Friday.

In a previous statement, The Perfect Neighbor director Geeta Gandbhir described the documentary, which includes police body-cam footage from the aftermath of the incident, as a “deeply personal project, created to transform grief into purpose and honor the lasting legacy of Ajike Owens and her family.”

Here’s more on the true story behind the documentary.

Lorincz allegedly called Owens’ children racial slurs before roping her into the altercation

The fatal shooting that killed Owens, a 35-year-old single mother of four children with dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, occurred after an altercation between Owens’ children and Lorincz. As People reported, Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, explained that her grandchildren were playing at a public field close to Lorincz’s home when she allegedly called them racial slurs.

“[She] said, ‘This is not the Underground Railroad, you slaves,'” Owens recounted on The View in June 2023.

It wasn’t the first time Lorincz had issued racially charged insults toward the children. A detective investigating the incident noted in the arrest affidavit, Lorincz admitted to calling Owens’ kids slurs in the past.

After Lorincz called them racial slurs, Owens’ children left the field but forgot a tablet, and they alleged Lorincz picked it up, CNN reported. Lorincz denied taking the tablet. Dias claimed Lorincz damaged the device when she threw a roller skate toward Owens’ son. According to CNN, an affidavit noted that the roller skate also struck Owens’ son on the toe.

The Owens family’s attorney, Ben Crump, clarified to NBC News that the skate was thrown indirectly.

Lorincz also swung an umbrella at another of Owens’ sons, the arrest affidavit also noted. Owens’ son allegedly approached Lorincz’s front door and yelled, “You want to throw something, throw it at me!”

That’s when Owens got involved and approached Lorincz’s home with her son.

“[Owens] … knocked on Lorincz’s door multiple times and demanded that Lorincz come outside,” the arrest affidavit read. “Lorincz then fired one shot through the door, striking Owens in her upper chest.”

Witnesses said they saw Owens stumbling from the porch while yelling for help before collapsing.

“[Police] found a victim suffering from a gunshot wound and immediately rendered aid until medics could arrive, but unfortunately, Miss Owens passed,” Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods stated during a news conference in June 2023.

Woods added that at least two of Owens’ children may have witnessed their mother’s death.

While appearing on The View, Dias said that Lorincz encouraged Owens’ son to bring Owens over.

“She created this situation, she wanted it to happen,” she alleged. “[Owens] was met with a bullet through a locked metal door with her 9-year-old son standing next to her.”

Dias added, “The 9-year-old feels as if he hadn’t left his tablet, his mother would still be here.”

Lorincz claimed Owens and her children threatened her life

Lorincz explained she felt “threatened” by the kids, which she told dispatchers when she called 911 during the incidents. She also claimed she was afraid after one of Owens’ children allegedly threatened her life.

“There were three boys, and they were very close to my sidewalk, and they had their skates around and stuff,” Lorincz said during a September interview from prison. “I had fallen over a skate, and I said, ‘Guys, pick up your skates,’ and they’re like, ‘No.'”

Lorincz alleged that she repeatedly asked the children to pick up the skates, and one of Owens’ sons eventually said, “‘I’m going to kill you. If I can’t kill you, I’m going to find someone to kill you.'”

During another 911 call on the day of the shooting, Lorincz claimed that Owens was attempting to “break down” her door.

“I shot through the door,” she said on the call, CNN reported. “The woman was screaming and yelling at me … 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.”

Lorincz also told authorities that Owens verbally threatened her life.

During a press conference, Woods said Lorincz had contacted authorities regarding Owens’ children for several years, since Jan. 16, 2021, reporting “six to eight” incidents to law enforcement.

Neighbors told police Lorincz had called in “false reports,” the arrest affidavit noted.

“[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,” it read.

The affidavit also stated that Lorincz admitted to “having used the n-word toward children out of anger in the past and also to calling children other derogatory terms.”

Lorincz was found guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison

Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter on Aug. 16, 2024, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

“In this case, Ms. Lorincz was behind the door. The door was locked. She had already called law enforcement. They were en route. She knew they were en route,” Judge Robert Hodges said at the time, ABC News reported.

During the trial, Lorincz expressed remorse for killing Owens.

“I am so sorry I took AJ’s life. I never intended to kill her,” she said.

Dias responded, “Susan’s apology was a last-ditch attempt to save herself. It wasn’t sincere; she never showed remorse.”

The Perfect Neighbor is now streaming on Netflix.