Teen son's tragic six-word reaction after mother shot dead by angry neighbour

In June 2023, a 14-year-old named Isaac was dealt the devastating news that his mother Ajike 'AJ' Owens had died in hospital after being shot by their neighbour.

Minutes earlier, a heartbroken Isaac - who'd attempted CPR on the 35-year-old as she bled out from a wound in her shoulder - was asked by police if he, too, had been hurt, only to respond with a tear-jerking six-word statement.

The murder of AJ Owens is currently being explored in a first-of-its-kind Netflix documentary, titled The Perfect Neighbor - a feature-length film predominantly made up of police body cam footage, as well as video doorbell recordings, custody CCTV clips and telephone audios.

Director Geeta Gandbhir told the BBC: "There was about thirty hours of video about the case, including doorbell camera, bodycam and cell phone footage, detective interviews with people in the community, as well as audio recordings from Susan's conversations with the police, when she had called them many, many, many times."

A neighbourly feud

In the years prior to her death, AJ and a number of her fellow Ocala, Florida, neighbours had become embroiled in a feud with one particular resident named Susan Lorincz, over the latter's treatment of the area's Black children.

Since 2021, Lorincz had called the police on countless occasions, claiming AJ's four children - Isaac, 14, Israel 'Izzy', 12, Afrika, nine, and Titus, six - had been trespassing on her property and harassing her.

During the over a dozen phone calls made to the local authorities over the two years prior to the killing, the 58-year-old also accused the town's youngsters of attempting to break into her truck, leaving toys in her yard, and constantly 'screaming like idiots'.

Both AJ and the surrounding neighbours denied that such incidents had ever occurred, with first-hand footage included in the documentary showing the children playing harmlessly in the estate's communal areas.

Instead, onlookers claimed to have heard Lorincz verbally abusing the children, using both racial and ableist slurs to insult them as they played - something she later confessed to in an affidavit.

One segment of the documentary shows AJ being interviewed by police following yet another report from her 'nightmare' neighbour.

AJ had planned to leave the neighbourhood (Netflix)

"She might not like it because I’m a Black female," she told officers. "It’s harassing people, like, you don’t own this [courtyard]."

AJ also went on to express her desire to escape from the estate, adding: "This is our last year. Prayfully. This is it."

What happened to AJ Owens?

As time went on, tensions rose on the street, especially between Lorincz and AJ's two eldest sons.

On the evening of 2 June 2023, however, onlookers claimed to have heard her rowing with both Isaac and Izzy, after the latter had left his iPad on her lawn. Witnesses later observed Lorincz throwing a roller skate at the children, as well as swatting them with an umbrella.

After the children rushed to their mother to tell her about the attack, AJ reportedly walked across the street to Lorincz's home to get a better understanding of what had gone down.

Lorincz admitted to racially abusing AJ's children (Netflix)

After AJ knocked loudly on the door, Lorincz dialled 911 in response, telling the dispatcher she was 'scared' for her life, after which an officer was dispatched to the area.

Within two minutes of hanging up the phone, Lorincz fired a single shotgun bullet through her front door, striking AJ in her shoulder.

A number of further 911 calls were made as a result, some from neighbours who'd heard the shot, and others who'd heard Isaac shouting for help, declaring, 'They shot my mama, they shot my mama'.

Lorincz also called the police for a second time, admitting she'd shot the mother-of-four, while claiming she'd done so in self-defence.

Officers arrived at the scene to see Isaac attempting to perform CPR, after which AJ was rushed to hospital.

AJ's son's tragic admission

In deeply disturbing footage recorded on police body cameras, attendees attempt to comfort the victim's four children, and in one heart-wrenching scene, her eldest Isaac is asked if he's hurt.

AJ was pronounced dead at the hospital (Netflix)

Through tears, the teenager then admits: "No, but my heart is broken."

Minutes later, AJ's ex and the children's father is called to the scene, where he holds the youngsters as they await an update on their mother.

Tragically, police later informed the family that AJ didn't survive her injuries and had been pronounced dead at the hospital.

What happened to Susan Lorincz?

It took police several days to make an official arrest following AJ's murder, after a national debate was ignited over the possibility of a Stand Your Ground defence in Lorincz's case, which argues for the use of deadly force when necessary for self-defence against violent crimes.

"I panicked and I thought, 'Oh my God, she's really going to kill me this time,' you know," she claimed during an interview with Marion County officers. "And so I don't even actually remember picking up the gun, I just remember shooting."

Police also asked if she'd ever used racial slurs to describe AJ's children.

Lorincz was sentenced to 25 years for AJ's murder (Netflix)

"It could’ve slipped out," Lorincz confessed. "I was always taught (a certain racist word) meant that you were just being unlawful, dirty. I don’t know, generally not being pleasant."

After a five-day investigation, Lorincz was charged with manslaughter with a firearm, culpable negligence, battery, and two counts of assault.

Appearing in court the following year, a judge agreed that the crime was 'very aggravated' and not committed 'out of fear' as she'd once claimed, and Lorincz was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 25 years.

Issuing an update on her four grandchildren, AJ's mother Pamela Dias told press recently: "They are really hurting. My youngest grandson, Titus, doesn’t understand. He still thinks she is going to come home."