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The true crime category has a new medium, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and grammar: officer-worn camera recordings. Countenances of those harmed, observers and potential offenders appear suddenly to the cameras, at times in the harsh glare of headlights or torches as the officers approach, their faces and voices eloquent of caution or fear or indignation or dubiously feigned naivety. And we frequently catch sight of the expressions of the law enforcement personnel, one standing by blankly while the other asks the questions with what sometimes seems like extraordinary diffidence – though perhaps this is because they are aware they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Non-Fiction Cinema

We have already had the Netflix true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her boyfriend, whose primary focus was officer recordings and in which, as in this film, the police seemed surprisingly lenient with the suspect. There is also Bill Morrison’s Oscar-nominated short Incident, composed entirely of officer footage. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the grim case of Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida, a woman of colour whose children reportedly bothered and antagonized her neighbor, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an escalating series of neighborhood conflicts in which the police were repeatedly called, the accused fatally shot Owens through her locked door, when the victim went to Lorincz’s house to address her about throwing objects at her children.

The Police Inquiry and State Laws

The investigating authorities found proof that Lorincz had done internet searches into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which permit householders and others to use firearms if there is a reasonable belief of danger. The documentary builds its story with the body cam footage generated during the repeated police visits to the location before the shooting, and then at the disturbing and disordered crime scene itself – prefaced by emergency call recordings of the caller calling the police in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also jail video of Lorincz which has a disturbing, unsettling appeal.

Depiction of the Suspect

The film does not really suggest anything too complicated about the neighbor, or any extenuating circumstance. She is obviously disturbed, although the kids are heard calling her a derogatory term, an ugly jibe. The film is showcased as an example of how “stand your ground” laws generate senseless and tragic bloodshed. But the fact of gun ownership and the constitutional right (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a late commentator famously claimed made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much highlighted.

Officer Questioning and Gun Culture

It is feasible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel surprised at how minimal concern the police took in this aspect. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Was this the first time she discharged the weapon? Where did she store it in the house? Could it have been easily accessible and prepared? The authorities aren’t shown asking any of these surely relevant questions (though they could have inquired in footage that were not included). Or is gun ownership so normal it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or toasters?

Arrest and Aftermath

For what appeared to her neighbors a very long time, Lorincz was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another point of comparison, incidentally, with the a prior incident). And when she was finally officially taken into custody in the holding cell, there is an extraordinary sequence in which the individual simply refuses to stand, will not extend her arms for the cuffs, not hostilely, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose mental health means that she is unable to comply. Did the gentle handling up until that point encouraged her to think that this might actually work?

Conclusion and Verdict

It didn’t; and the jury’s verdict is saved for the closing credits. A very sombre portrayal of U.S. justice and consequences.