The After Show: The Neighbor from Hell

We're going to take a deeper look at one of our most recent 2020 episodes.

And this one, so many people are talking about. It's centers around an awful story, which grabbed headlines when it happened back in 2023. And it also gained some notoriety most recently, because it was the subject of an Oscar nominated documentary.

It's the story of 35-year-old Ajika Owens, who was shot and killed just yards away from her own home while protecting her children from what she said was ongoing harassment from her neighbor Susan Lawrence.

That fatal gunshot was fired on June 2, 2023, after what had been a long, simmering dispute between Lorenz and many neighbors, really, in the community about where Ajika's kids and all the other kids in the neighborhood could play.

Well, the children would often play games

around a small field that was right next to Lorenz's home, and sadly, after an incident on June 2, Owens approached her neighbor's door with her nine and 12-year-olds at her side to confront her neighbor about some behavior

that had been displayed. And she was met with a bullet, which killed her.

“This was a story that just, I think, everybody just couldn't get over.”

And I went down to Ocalaflora to report this story for 2020. And I had a chance to walk through the neighborhood where Ajika was raising her four children, and I had an opportunity to speak with her son, her mom Pamela. But her 12-year-old son, Izzy, is the one who just,

I think, grabbed all of us. He had witnessed his mom's shooting, and he just touched our hearts. Ajika was described to me by so many people as an ideal mom, a kind and hardworking person,

her children, the center for life. And she had moved to Ocalaflora from Fort Lauderdale, a very busy area to a very quiet, affordable community,

and ultimately wanted to raise her family there.

But little did she know the danger that was lurking, just next door to her. We are joined today by 2020 producer, Stacey Newman. First of all, look at you. You look fabulous.

Thank you, just trying to keep up with that rough. Thank you for being here and doing this. You and I have been following this story, this mom who was shot on the doorstep of her neighbors, a home, and people tried to make sense of it.

“What was it about it for you, that really caught your attention?”

Well, yeah, well, I am from Florida, so I heard about the story immediately when it happens. And we're really blew me away about it besides what turned out to be the senseless violence was the fact that the shooting had happened through a locked dead bull to door.

And then discovering that the victim, Ajika Owens, she was bigger than life, with these four children and people in this community seem to really just enjoy her and the kids. So really just diving into understanding who she was,

was something that stuck out to me. And one of the things that struck me, Stacey, was the kids would run around the neighborhood of small community. And it was almost like this bygone era, right?

Of kids who just were hanging out in this town. Yeah, a lot of nostalgia, even for me, I remember being a child in Florida and the summer just running around and writing your bike and roller skating and having a good time outside.

And to just see like that American nostalgia, but then the innocence just being ripped away from the tragedy. Yeah, and this was one that really was so tragic because it was this buildup that was this this feud sort of happening in the neighborhood.

I really wanted to get a sense of what this community was all about. So you and I got in the car and drove and saw the neighborhood.

“What had you found out about the neighborhood there?”

I mean, really and truly what you saw in the show as you described it as nostalgia. This was a very active community. And when we were there, you could kind of see the still hung over the air there.

There weren't as many children playing in the area. I think what at least one of the neighbors still live there. But it had really changed a complexion of this neighborhood that was just so close knit. And when you think about O'Kala,

for some of us who don't know Florida that well, I was really surprised. The beautiful horse farms, as you were approaching, as you approach the neighborhood, it was beauty and kind of a quiet community,

renowned as sort of like this horse country. So even just a mile away from where this tragedy took place, beautiful landscapes and just almost picturesque. And then you kind of turn into this community.

right, the levity of it, how it just lands and you when you turn in and just see these two little streets. And then that field that became like the center of what led to this tragedy, this tiny field that these kids were playing on all day.

It was just like right there. - And Susan just couldn't stand it. She worked from home and seemed to be really bothered by the noise. What did the neighbors tell you?

Because you had a chance to go and talk to the neighbors about that tension that was building up in what the dynamic was like between Susan and O'Kala and the rest of the folks? - I think the easiest way to explain it

that the neighbor said is Susan was a nuisance neighbor.

She was always bothered by any of the children

running around, having a good time, throwing football, writing bikes, dancing, just having fun out there. It seems like she really wanted to be living more in a quiet retirement community.

And that's not what this was.

“So I think as with anything, once you see something”

you can't unsee it. And I think Susan couldn't unsee or unhere, the children running around screaming yelling just having a good time. And that bothered her incessantly.

- Yeah, it's just the noise that the noise that many people think of is just fun noise of kids, squeaking and screaming and all of that in the community bothered her. - Exactly. And but for her, she took it to the place

of not having conversations with the parents and just kind of squashing it there. She would call the police. - So she would call the police, they would come to the home, typically nothing really happened.

They would know a rest or nothing was ever happened legally whenever she would make these calls, right? - I mean, as you see in the show, one of the deputies like, "I don't ever think we've got to call about children playing."

You know, something as simple as children playing, but she seemed to think that something should be done because the crux of the argument was over these no trespassing signs that she'd asked the landlord to put it, but because as we saw in that field,

“when we went out there, there's two sides to that field.”

So all the children just went over to the other side and that neighbor was completely fine with it and would play with the children. She didn't want them there at all. - And she was a rinter.

There was the no trespassing sign which this was the source of a lot of aggravation. She had that installed. And police actually sort of had her number and you see in the episode that they were getting annoyed

by it, things seemed to be really boiling. And the kids were playing in Susan and you heard in our episode, you saw in our episode, the kids were playing and Susan threw something and that was what sort of set things off.

The kids came home to tell her and then things started to sort of snowball from there. - This snowball really started with roller skates and on iPad, that one of Awjika's sons had left in the grass near Susan's property.

And that's what she called police.

First thing, these kids are trespassing.

They're leaving their toys all over the yard and then Awjika confronted her because she threw roller skates and she wanted to go over there and talk to Susan about the confrontation.

And then we know of course sadly how that ended. - Now that ended, but she was a mom who was going to complain to a neighbor and say, hey, you can't do this. That was the intention.

She's got her two kids with her. And let's talk about this because what you see in the episode and it's just so hard-breaking, right? And she's going to confront Susan. So Awjika's sort of yelling for her to come out on the stoop

and take us through how that sort of played out 'cause it happened so quickly. - Oh, it's all about two and a half minutes. It just happens so fast.

“And I think it's important for people to know”

to that Awjika had gone over to Susan's house before to talk to her about these complaints she had about the children and had knocked in her door once before.

But Susan never opened the door.

And Susan also didn't grab a gun and that prior incident. But for some reason that day, she decided to shoot through the door. She had already called police. They were on their way and she didn't wait.

- So she shoots through the door and Awjika's children were standing nearby. Nobody can believe this has happened. She backs away from the door. She ultimately falls down on the ground and she's struck.

And people are just shocked. And everybody talked about Susan appearing confused when this all happened. I mean, Awjika has taken to the hospital. She's eventually pronounced dead.

And they're saying that her behavior is kind of something that's sort of symbolic of what we would see throughout the investigation. She's acting confused. But police know that there's been this encounter

that the shooting has happened. And Susan, which speaks again to what some of Awjika's friends told us that Susan felt like the police were there for her. So she felt this shooting was justified and acted like it throughout the entire investigation.

- That is. - Police are gonna come in back her story. - Back her story. So when they put handcuffs on her, you can see that confusion.

You know, when they put her in the car, you could see that confusion of wait a minute.

I'm the one who was threatened.

I'm the one who was in fear of my life.

“And meanwhile, here's Awjika collapsed on the ground.”

And Susan hasn't even asked if she's okay. - Susan was actually surprised when she was arrested and that was what we're shocking to me. Even sort of blamed police for not helping handle the situation. - Well, you know, in her mind and the way she used police,

her point of view was, if you had actually arrested her, prior to this incident, this wouldn't have happened. That was astounding to me. That she was laying it off on the police. Because after these many calls over and over,

complaining about the children and complaining about Awjika Owens, if police had pressed charges, if police had arrested her, she would be alive today and none of this would have happened.

- And arrested her for what?

That becomes the big question. - What's your children playing in the yard? - Which is the point of this whole thing. Like they would tell her over and over. We can't do anything more than take her complaints,

put a police report together, give you a case number and that just wasn't good enough for Susan. - Well, this story, you know, quickly spread like wildfire. Everybody was talking about it. So I wanna talk about the interrogation

because once police did take Susan in that interrogation of her was also just unbelievable. And you'll see it in our episode. So we're gonna take a quick break. And when we come back, Stacey will help us

go through this interrogation and why it was so significant. So, don't go anywhere.

2020 is partnering with Vibes open year wireless headphones.

That's Vy BZ. If you listen to a lot of true crime, you probably like to listen with a good pair of headphones. But it can be tricky to find a pair that provides great sound quality that's not too overwhelming.

Because when you're out with a podcast during a late night dog walk or pre-done run, you don't necessarily want noise cancellation that blocks out the sounds around you.

“That's why you'll wanna get yourself a pair of vibes.”

Your perfect companion in audio. They're designed for maximum comfort with ultra lightweight earbuds that sit just outside the ear canal. And they offer crystal clear audio.

So no matter what you're listening to, whether it's your favorite song or a sound rich true crime podcast, it'll come across loud, clear and silky smooth. The battery lasts up to 10 hours per charge

and they come in a range of sleek modern colors and styles. So what are you waiting for? Order now and you'll be listening to better sound with better headphones before you know it. For a limited time, our listeners

can get more than 60% off a pair of vibes, wireless headphones. Just go to ABCsecretsavings.com/2020. Again, that's ABCsecretsavings.com/2020. ABCsecretsavings.com/2020.

From 30 for 30 podcasts. Brian Patas, Senior Defense of Lime and from Miami, gunned out. The key to this case, it's Brian. What the hell is this crap man? A hour before he died, he was on a phone.

Arnold's about this might be my hit. You want to true. You just want to conviction be in place here arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U, listen now.

Welcome back to 2020 The After Show. We are joined today by 2020 Producers Stacy Newman. Who worked with me on our most recent story for 2020. And we're discussing the episode, The tragic story of Ajika Owens, who was shot by her own neighbors, Susan Lawrence,

after attempting to defend her children, who had been playing in an area right near Susan's home.

“Stacy, this is a story I think I won't forget for a long time,”

especially after meeting the family members. It took police four days to arrest Susan Lawrence. People were talking about this. If they sort of knew that this had happened, it seemed pretty clear.

I don't want to use a term black and white because that sort of factors, the whole racial motivation sort of factors in here, too. But it did seem pretty clear to many who were observing this. But investigators said they needed to understand if this was just ifiable under the standard ground law.

And many people had heard about that law in Florida. Or after the Trayvon Martin case, George Zimmerman had claimed it was standard ground. So that was something that factored in here. But people were not patient and they weren't believing that this was

at all remotely connected to a standard ground law. And standard ground, you have a right to use deadly force if you feel you're imminently in danger without the duty to retreat. But Susan was already in her home. And even on the 911 calls, she made that you will hear in the show.

She said she was standing behind a locked door. Yeah, and you mentioned earlier how she was actually shocked that she was put under arrest when eventually police did a restaurant. This was a woman who felt that she was completely justified. Didn't seem to see anything wrong.

And that that's we talked about that in our piece about her mindset that this woman

dead at her hands.

“The neighbors told us, she was a nuisance neighbor.”

She was always complaining.

She's always caught in the police. What struck me in the piece was that Susan first said that she just was trying to just scare Ajika. She shot, she shot the gun because she wanted to scare her. Not really seeming to take responsibility for the fact that she had fired a fatal bullet.

And then there were kind of inconsistencies in the way she described what had happened. You know, they were asking her very specific questions. And something she said, yes, I did that and then no I didn't do that. But she used certain words and to try to kind of make her defense immediately. But because of the treatment she was receiving, which sometimes the police told us

behind the scenes was tactical to get her to cooperate. And to relax and to think that she was going to get off Scott free, she believed she was not going to be arrested or put on trial for this. Because in Susan's mind, she's the victim. Yeah.

Oscar Owens and not her children. We wanted to know who this woman is. We had a hard time getting in anybody to sit down and speak with us on her behalf. And you see in the trial, there were a few people that knew Susan like from her church, her sister, but they declined to be interviewed. We did know some things and she had come from the northeast and moved to Florida.

“And we did know that, and in fact, I think she made a point of the fact that she said,”

well, I had, you know, friends of all, you know, races and so forth. So she wanted to make clear that this wasn't a racial incident. People felt it was racial violence. She is racial slurs the way she spoke to the children, calling them slaves and get on the underground railroad. So it was very hard. Number one is a producer to put this together and

realize kids so young had to deal with a type of verbal trauma. Yeah. You know, we've experienced that. And I think that's kind of interesting too for you and for me to cover this story because obviously both of us being black women, I just could being a black woman, you having lived in Florida into your point. You know, a woman who has used racial slurs and I think for us,

there's something a little heavier about covering a story like this and seeing a family and the trauma because, you know, I think I experienced it a little bit differently than maybe one of my other colleagues might. And you probably did too as a producer. Absolutely. And you know,

“exactly I think what really was profound to me was it was hard, especially when you were doing”

some of those interviews with family. It was so hard not to see. This could be one of my family. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It could be someone we know. Absolutely. And I want to get to that in just a minute. But let's talk about Susan's charges because after she was arrested,

she was ultimately charged with manslaughter with a firearm. You know, the family and the community

was really frustrated. And we had a chance to speak with their attorney, Anthony Thomas, who actually had been born and raised in Ocala. He was actually living in Tallahassee. Now, and but Ben Crump, the noted civil rights activist and attorney, had contacted him and said, "I hear there's something that's happened down there in Ocala." And this guy, Anthony, was very, very interesting and sharing what he knew about the neighborhood, what he knew about the community. It really spoke

to him and resonated with him. And the frustration that they felt in the community felt that this investigation was moving slowly. You know, there are still to this day are people who believe there should have been at least a second degree murder charge here. Prosecutors thought otherwise. What I thought was interesting, though, is Anthony made a very interesting point to me when I sat down with him that sometimes you've got to go with charges that you feel that you can

prove. And ultimately, he was in line with that. He wanted something that could be proven of very, very astute lawyer. Well, I want to talk about the trial. And so when we come back, we're going to take you inside the court room, in this case, with Susan Lorenz, and we'll discuss

the powerful interviews that Stacey just alluded to that we had a chance to have with

Ijika's mom and her son. So don't go anywhere. We're going to share more about that. But what I want to say is that my not-ending studio is not a master-writer, except for the soft hand that is internet. So it's a master-writer. I'm saying, you can say that you're a hero. You're a master-writer, right? But you don't understand. Exactly. The man is just a philosopher. He's just a master-writer. And when he then works,

he's a catch-in. -That's right. -Safe. He's a master-writer. How did that get to look? -It's custom. Those else will be in. Welcome back to 2020 The After Show. I am sitting here with our talented producer, Stacey Newman, and we're talking about the heartbreaking story of Ijika Owens, who was shot by her own neighbor, Susan Lorenz, after attempting to defend her children, who had been playing in an area

And, oh, Stacey, I had a chance to sit down and you were there right with me when I spoke with

“Israel, called Izzy, who is now 12 years old. And I got to tell you, this kid is something”

else. His family calls him Pastor Israel because he's this very well-spoken, sort of religious kid, kind of an old soul. I have to tell you, he just took my breath away. Just by not just value the strength, but the point that... I mean, when he sat down and, of course, like any southern kid, he said, "Yes, ma'am, to me. No, ma'am." When I said, "What? We sit here. Yes, ma'am." But immediately when he opened his mouth and just started to talk about the pain that he was

feeling, but yet he's focused not on what he's lost, but what he has, which is his grandmother

in his life, Ajika's mom, who was there with us at the time. Oh, my, I mean, we barely

had any dry eyes as we were doing this interview with him. -I mean, it's very rare that I watch an interview. And I'm crying or just emotional. And it was hard to get through that.

“And I think I told you afterwards, I'm like, "I don't know how you got through that." Because”

he is so impressive and dynamic. And to see the impact of, I know who he's going to become in this world. And as you said, like, looking forward, looking at what he has, I just, I was blown away. -Yeah, I was blown away, too. And I will think about him. I think for a very long time, because this is a kid who has lost his mother, lost his world in that way, because the kids were

Ajika's world. And for him to be able to say that, you know, I'm trying to be strong for my siblings,

there's a reason that things happen. You know, all of those things that you might hear in adults say that, you know, I'm making the most of my circumstances, even though it's difficult, I'm grateful that I have my grandmother, my life, and to Ajika's mom, Pamela, whom I also have the opportunity to sit with and her heartbreak, having lost her daughter. This is a mom. You know, had her daughter fairly young. So she's still young. She's in her 50s.

She's her kids are grown. She now is embarking on a new life. She wanted to be a flight attendant. So she was living in Atlanta, because she decided she wanted to see the world and do something new. And literally, as she was beginning that career about to get on a flight, she gets a call of that something's happened to her daughter. And her interview just was something else too. When you met her and you began to talk to her even in the beginning to get her to talk with us,

what was that like for you? I can just see the beautiful soul of that family, you know, and she's so soft spoken, but strong and mighty. And I can see how much of a pillar that she is in object as life before her tragic passing, but also for these four children. And to see the preacher and the teacher, that is an easy. And you know the impact of her is vital to how you see those kids moving forward. Because that's one of the questions a lot of people had is how are they

doing now? How are they doing now? And it's important to see that. And also there was this moment where you were interviewing Izzy and she was in the corner just sweeping. We being I caught her out of the corner of my eye. And you can see the combination of grief and pride and grief of that he's going through this grief. They're going through this, but also pride in how he's coming. How he's coming along and what she's doing. Well, she's raising these kids. And that's another part of the tragic,

the tragedy of this story that she is raising these grandkids who she just wanted to adore and love and visit from time to time. But now she's missing her daughter. And that was just

“something I think that was profound for all of us. And what I thought was interesting is that Pamela”

has done what a lot of families, but particularly moms do. I've interviewed a lot of moms who've lost children. And she is trying to honor her daughter's legacy. She has co-founded an organization and it's all about offering resources to people who might be experiencing racial violence and folks who need different things in their lives to be able to get back up and get moving after something like this, right? Absolutely. Just as a way to honor Aujica Owens starting this

foundation. But this is now her call. This is now her purpose besides raising these grandchildren, is that she doesn't want to see other families go through what they had to go through. And anyway, that they're able to support families, whether it's legal support, financial support, burial support, advocacy, she wants her daughter's memory to mean something. And this should bring awareness. It was great having you as my partner. They are down there writing in Florida,

Stacy. So great. So great to spend some time with you. Thanks for doing this. How was it? It was great.

Just put it on microphone. There you go. There you go. Well, we'll jump in the car another time

“and do another story. Stacy Newman is so great to have you here. And thank you for being here”

with us and joining us for this podcast episode. You can watch our latest 2020 episodes as you know

on Friday nights on ABC. So make sure you come back and you can stream episodes like this one

“anytime on Disney Plus and Hulu. Have a good day, everybody.”

911. Where is the emergency? It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey Shore.

Someone reports in a band and car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver.

“19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows.”

Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang. From 2020 and ABC audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lives wherever you get your podcasts. This is insane. Well, it begins again. Watch the new Hulu original series, Love Overboard, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus

for bundles subscribers, terms of fly.