The Perfect Neighbor - Netflix

[ohnonowwhat1]

Sorry if there is another thread, I couldn’t find it.

Ive just watched this documentary and can’t stop thinking about it.
Basically about a neighbourhood where kids are being kids and one neighbour takes huge exception to them and how it escalates.

A very interesting, very sad story which was well made. At times we probably saw a little too much but it was filmed and made entirely using police body cam and cctv.

At one point I was bawling my eyes out in one particular scene.

Although a harrowing watch it’s a good documentary.

Yes, I remember that case. I do think it was different though. They actually broke into his house if I remember rightly.

Yes they broke into his house but he shot the burglar in the back. He deserved to go to prison too.

I have a cold, black heart, but i actually shed a few tears watching this.

The anguish in those children’s voices were devastating.

I mean the kid was 16 I think so someone had to pay. He only served 3 years. He came out with no regrets or remorse & pretty much said he would do it again tomorrow.

Yes he was a really horrible man and I think it would be looked upon differently today. Thank god it’s that uncommon in this country.

its almost like apple shouldn’t have guns to hand when they get stressed?! 😂

Also waving her gun at children.

People, not apple 😂

You're thinking of Tony Martin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TonyMartin(farmer)

It's was a case where all involved were scumbags.

I don't have any sympathy for those shot by Martin. They were career criminals and surely that's a risk they accepted when burgling farm houses. He had an illegally held firearm and used it to shoot them in the back, so I don't think much of him either.

The racist woman was the only one who said that that is what AJ said. None of the other witnesses heard her say that.

The racist was actually on her phone to Police when AJ came to the door. Within 2 minutes she had shot AJ and was back in the phone. Therefore she had no issues in ‘finding her phone’ and could easily have phoned back to say she was frightened rather than shoot AJ through her door which could easily have hit her 10 year old son stood behind her.

I was also confused as to why she wasn’t immediately arrested after the shooting but I understand in America arresting someone needs more than ‘reasonable suspicion’ as is the case in the UK. I was confused in the case of Kendra in the High School Catfish as to why she wasn’t immediately arrested when she was found to be responsible. I think part of the problem was that she was relying on the Stand Your Ground defence and one thing which would have been clear from the outset was that she shot through a locked door so under US law I think they have to gather more information before they’re able to arrest. I think it would be different in the UK and the grounds for arrest are lower and more straightforward.

I know that there were lots of allegations of racism thrown at the Police but certainly from the BW footage from the Police it seemed they more took the side of the black family and the children. Significantly not one single neighbour spoke up in the racist’s defence and said she was reasonable and was genuinely being harassed. If the children were genuinely being a menace I think other neighbours would have complained. She was the only one to complain and even lied they were trespassing when they weren’t.

She was a ticking time bomb.The parents should have made sure the kids stopped antagonising her as she was clearly unhinged. The police should have also advised this. You could see something coming a mile off. Especially with guns in America.

I too thought she had some sort of mental disorder. But when the sentence handed down for manslaughter - not even homicide - was 25 years…nope. No mental health issues, that’s a fully unmitigated sentence. She was just a pos who lost her temper.

And I do think that it was premeditated (note that she used that word first, not the cops). She had googled Stand Your Ground. She had 3 firearms in her house. She threw rollerskates at the kids, confiscated the iPad then when the kid asked for it back and said I’m going to get my mom she replied with “go get her, go get your mom”. She called the police, spoke for 5 minutes, and within 2 further minutes had shot AJ after a total of 2x3 knocks on the door and called the police back. She googled Stand Your Ground, she provoked AJ, got her over to her house, then shot her. It’s possible she didn’t intend to kill, I believe her reaction to learning she had was genuine. But she definitely intended to shoot that loaded gun in the direction of what could have been a child or teenager.

It just made me think of the hundreds of thousands if not millions of black lives taken by entitled white folk in that part of the world in the past three centuries, and still today. They’ve cursed that land.

I watched the trial. Hope she rots.

I find your determination to defend this despicable cunt’s actions really very odd.

This ⬆️

watched it as saw all the threads in it.
it seemed like she didn’t get any legal advice when arrested. Is it different in USA with no free provision? Then asking her to write a letter seemed particularly something to trap her into admitting something.

not defending her but just noticed the lack of advice she seemed to get (which she could have been offered and refused potentially)

That’s a good point. She was read her rights (both times we saw her arrested) and the first time with the truck in the car park she specifically refused to talk to them so I suppose I assumed they’d been through all that already.

I agree. It was only a matter of time.

The Stand Your Ground is feelings-based.
It’s not legitimate defence, no one even has to attack you, you just have to “feel” afraid.
Not good.

There's a lot more on YouTube about this, including her full interviews, the trial, and her sentencing.

A few points stood out to me.

No one heard Ajika threaten to kill Susan. In his summing up, the judge pointed out that AJ was asking for Susan to come outside, indicating she had no intention of entering Susan's home. This was verified not just by immediate neighbours but the houses behind. They all agreed AJ was loud and angry, but not one of them reported hearing AJ make any threats.

The door had been reinforced by the LL a few months earlier. The police tried to recreate "the whole house shaking" and the door looking like it was about to give way. Even with a 6-foot male detective throwing himself full force at the door and kicking it with all his might, the door did not budge, nor did the whole house shake. The forensic techs inside the house, while the detective was kicking the door, stated that the walls vibrated, but at no point did it seem like the detective was about to be able to make entry. When examining the door after the shooting, the hinges and the deadbolts were still firmly in place, evidencing that the door had not shaken excessively hard when AJ was knocking.

The room Susan got the gun from also had a lock. Susan could put a second locked door between herself and AJ; instead, she chose to move closer to the first door and shoot.

There was a couple of seconds of silence between AJ shouting and the shooting, as the judge pointed out in those seconds, anyone could have put themselves between AJ and the door, including the child or the police Susan had called.

She researched stand your ground laws in the months leading up to the shooting.

I don't believe her reaction to hearing AJ had died was genuine. Immediately afterwards, she is 100% calm and composed. There is not a single tear on her face.

Ditto during sentencing when AJ's mum made her victim statement, Susan showed no emotion. She appeared bored, if anything.

No one with an ounce of common sense could have had reasonable doubt.

She is guilty and deserves every second of her sentence.

surely though rooted in what a reasonable person would “feel afraid” by?

not say, someone with a histrionic personality disorder feeling afraid by basically nothing?

otherwise her conviction would appear to be quite shaky, and she had put in to appeal

This is really interesting thanks

⬆️100% agree. Especially about there being no possibility of reasonable doubt. There’s a poster on this thread who keeps pushing that agenda, it’s sickening how anyone can consider defending this egregious bitch’s actions.

I watched it yesterday and cried at the same scene, it was incredibly hard to watch. I wasn't clear if AJ had featured in any of the footage up until that point, anyone?

But that doesn’t give just cause for shooting someone, the Stand Your Ground law isn’t available for hellish neighbours, it’s threat to life. What was in question was whether Susan felt her life was at risk when AJ was banging on the door (which was locked). The fact that it had only been happening for seconds rather than minutes before she shot AJ was what led to the conviction, as the jury felt there was little to no threat by AJ toward Susan (from timings and witness testimony) and Susan shooting AJ was in anger rather than fear.

She did, but it was quite hard to follow because the characters because of the poor quality footage and chaos around most of the scenes!