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The true crime genre has a new medium, or perhaps even a whole new language and grammar: police body cam footage. Faces of victims, observers and potential offenders loom up to the cameras, at times in the harsh glare of headlights or torches as the police arrive, their faces and voices expressing caution or fear or anger or dubiously feigned naivety. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the faces of the officers themselves, 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.

An Emerging Pattern in Documentary Filmmaking

We have previously seen the Netflix true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, 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 police seemed extraordinarily lax with the perpetrator. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, made exclusively of body cam film. Now comes a new film by Geeta Gandbhir about the grim case of Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida, a African American woman whose children allegedly harassed and antagonized her white neighbour, a local resident. In 2023, after an increasing number of neighbour-dispute incidents in which the police were summoned multiple times, the accused fatally shot Owens through her locked door, when the victim went to Lorincz’s house to confront her about throwing objects at her children.

The Investigation and Legal Context

The investigating authorities found evidence that the suspect had done internet searches into the state's self-defense statutes, which permit residents and others to shoot if there is a reasonable belief of danger. The documentary builds its story with the body cam footage generated during the multiple officer calls to the location before the shooting, and then at the horrific and chaotic crime scene itself – introduced by 911 audio material of Lorincz calling the police in a melodramatically shaky voice. There is also jail video of the individual which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Portrayal of the Accused

The film 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 production is showcased as an illustration of how self-defense regulations lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking violence. But the fact of gun ownership and the constitutional right (that historic American constitutional privilege that a late commentator notoriously said made gun deaths a price worth paying) is not much highlighted.

Police Interrogation and Gun Culture

It is feasible to watch the officer questioning segments here and feel astonished at how little interest the officers took in this point. At what time did she purchase the firearm? Where (if anywhere) did she train in its use? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? How was the gun kept in her home? Was it just on the couch, loaded and ready? The police aren’t shown asking any of these surely relevant questions (though they may have done in footage that were not included). Or is possessing a firearm so normal it would be like asking about microwaves or bread heaters?

Arrest and Aftermath

For what appeared to her local residents a very long time, Lorincz was not even arrested and charged, only held 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 formally arrested in the holding cell, there is an remarkable scene in which the individual simply declines to rise, refuses to put her wrists out for the cuffs, not aggressively, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose mental health means that she just can’t do it. Did the gentle handling up until that point led her to think that this could be effective?

Final Outcome and Judgment

It was not successful; and the panel's decision is revealed in the end titles. A very sombre picture of American crime and punishment.