The Perfect Neighbor: Behind the Viral Netflix Series | MiniPod

Oct 24, 2025

Takema Robinson, an executive producer and activist, along with Pamela Dias, mother of Ajike Owens, discuss their efforts surrounding the impactful documentary, The Perfect Neighbor. Pamela shares her motivations to publicize AJ's story for community awareness and policy change. They emphasize the devastating implications of Florida's Stand Your Ground law in AJ's murder. The duo highlights the community's mobilization and the film's role in raising awareness and inspiring action against racial violence.

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ANECDOTE

Choosing To Share Painful Evidence

Pamela Dias watched the unedited police footage of her daughter Ajike multiple times and was physically sick from grief the first time.
She decided to share the film to honor Ajike and push for change despite personal pain.

INSIGHT

Pattern Visible In Official Footage

The film exposes a two-year pattern of harassment through police bodycam footage obtained via FOIA.
That footage shows Susan repeatedly called police and weaponized her whiteness while the system failed to flag her.

INSIGHT

Systemic Failure And Policy Target

The documentary shows systemic failure where police recognized the problem yet didn't act to stop escalating danger.
The film aims to use Ajike's story to resurface debate over Stand Your Ground and its disparate impact.

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The Perfect Neighbor debuted this month as the #1 film on Netflix, bringing attention to Stand Your Ground laws through the story of Ajike “AJ” Owens. AJ was killed in 2023 by her neighbor Susan Lorincz, a woman known throughout the neighborhood as “The Karen." This documentary, told through police bodycam footage of the confrontations leading up to the horrific murder, is part of a movement for social change.

On this MiniPod, our hosts Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, and Andrew Gillum speak with the mother of Ajike Owens, Pamela Dias, and executive producer of the film, Takema Robinson. In honor of Ajike’s legacy, these two co-founded the Standing In The Gap Fund with a vision to transform grief into action and seek justice for those impacted by racial violence.

Florida’s first-in-the-nation Stand Your Ground law played a key role in Ajike’s murder. Her killer researched the law BEFORE shooting Ajike and using it as her legal defense. Ajike, Takema, and SO many others are seeking to overturn the law that’s disproportionately used to justify murdering members of the Black community.

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Native Land Pod is brought to you by Reasoned Choice Media.

Thank you to the Native Land Pod team:

Angela Rye as host, executive producer and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Tiffany Cross as host and producer, Andrew Gillum as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; LoLo Mychael is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media.

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