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The true crime genre has a new medium, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and grammar: police body cam footage. Countenances of those harmed, witnesses and possible perpetrators loom up to the cameras, at times in the intense brightness of vehicle beams or torches as the police arrive, their expressions and tones eloquent of wariness or fear or indignation or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the expressions of the officers themselves, one waiting impassively while the other asks the questions with what occasionally seems like remarkable hesitation – though perhaps this is because they know they are being recorded.

An Emerging Pattern in Documentary Filmmaking

We have already had the streaming service real-life crime film The Gabby Petito Case, about the slaying of an social media personality by her partner, whose primary focus 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 tragic incident of Ajike Owens in a city in Florida, a woman of colour whose children reportedly bothered and antagonized her white neighbour, a local resident. In 2023, after an escalating series 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 the neighbor's residence to address her about throwing objects at her children.

The Investigation and Legal Context

The investigating authorities found proof that the suspect had done internet searches into the state's self-defense statutes, which allow residents and others to use firearms if there is a reasonable belief of threat. The movie constructs its narrative with the body cam footage generated during the repeated police visits to the location before the killing, and then at the disturbing and disordered incident site itself – introduced by 911 audio material of the caller calling the police in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also jail video of Lorincz which has a chilly, queasy fascination.

Portrayal of the Accused

The film does not really suggest anything too complicated about Lorincz, or any mitigating factors. She is obviously disturbed, although the children are heard calling her “the Karen”, an ugly jibe. The production is showcased as an example of how “stand your ground” laws lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking violence. But the reality of firearm possession and the second amendment (that longstanding U.S. legal right that a deceased pundit notoriously said made firearm fatalities a necessary cost) is not much highlighted.

Officer Questioning and Firearm Norms

It is possible to watch the police interrogation scenes here and feel astonished at how minimal concern the police took in this point. 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 surely relevant questions (though they may have done in recordings that didn’t make the edit). Or is possessing a firearm so commonplace it would be like asking about microwaves or bread heaters?

Detention and Consequences

For what seemed to her local residents a very long time, the suspect was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another parallel, incidentally, with the a prior incident). 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 handcuffs, not hostilely, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose psychological state means that she is unable to comply. Did the gentle handling up until that point encouraged her to think that this might actually work?

Final Outcome and Judgment

It was not successful; and the jury’s verdict is saved for the end titles. A very sombre portrayal of American crime and punishment.