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The true crime category has a new medium, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and structure: police body cam footage. Faces of victims, observers and potential offenders appear suddenly to the cameras, at times in the harsh glare of headlights or flashlights as the officers approach, their expressions and tones eloquent of caution or panic or indignation or dubiously feigned naivety. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the faces of the officers themselves, one waiting impassively while the other asks the questions with what sometimes seems like remarkable hesitation – though perhaps this is because they are aware they are being recorded.

A Growing Trend in Documentary Filmmaking

We have previously seen the Netflix real-life crime film The Gabby Petito Case, about the killing of an Instagram influencer by her boyfriend, whose main point of interest was officer recordings and in which, as in this film, the law enforcement seemed extraordinarily lax with the suspect. There is also Bill Morrison’s Oscar-nominated short Incident, composed entirely of body cam film. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the grim case of Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida, a woman of colour whose four young kids reportedly bothered and antagonized her neighbor, a local resident. In 2023, after an escalating series of neighborhood conflicts in which the authorities were summoned multiple times, Lorincz fatally shot Owens through her closed front door, when the victim went to the neighbor's residence to address her about throwing objects at her children.

The Police Inquiry and State Laws

The arresting officers found evidence that the suspect had done online research into the state's self-defense statutes, which allow householders and others to shoot if there is a reasonable belief of threat. The movie builds its story with the body cam footage captured during the multiple officer calls to the scene before the shooting, and then at the horrific and chaotic crime scene itself – introduced by emergency call recordings of the caller contacting authorities in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also police cell footage of Lorincz which has a disturbing, unsettling appeal.

Depiction of the Suspect

The documentary does not really imply anything too complex about Lorincz, or any mitigating factors. She is clearly unstable, although the kids are heard calling her a derogatory term, an hurtful taunt. The film is presented as an illustration of how self-defense regulations lead to senseless and tragic bloodshed. But the reality of gun ownership and the second amendment (that historic American constitutional privilege that a late commentator notoriously said made firearm fatalities a necessary cost) is not much highlighted.

Police Interrogation and Gun Culture

It is feasible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel astonished at how little interest the officers took in this aspect. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? How was the gun kept in her home? Could it have been easily accessible and prepared? The authorities aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they could have inquired in footage that didn’t make the edit). Or is gun ownership so normal it would be like asking about kitchen appliances or bread heaters?

Arrest and Aftermath

For what seemed to her neighbors a extended period, the suspect was not even arrested and charged, only detained and even offered a hotel stay away from home for the night (another parallel, by the way, with the Gabby Petito case). And when she was ultimately officially taken into custody in the detention area, there is an extraordinary sequence in which the individual simply refuses to stand, will not extend her arms for the cuffs, not aggressively, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose mental health means that she is unable to comply. Had the kid-gloves treatment up until that point led her to think that this could be effective?

Final Outcome and Judgment

It didn’t; and the jury’s verdict is saved for the end titles. A deeply sobering picture of American crime and punishment.