Is Perfect Neighbor’s Susan Lorincz Actually a Doctor? What We Know

Viewers who paid close attention to the Netflix documentary The Perfect Neighbor may have come away with a few questions about Susan Lorincz’s job (among other things).

Lorincz is serving a 25-year prison sentence for fatally shooting her neighbor, Ajike “AJ” Owens, in her Ocala, Florida, neighborhood in 2023. The documentary, which was released on Netflix October 10, 2025, focuses on Lorincz’s numerous calls to police in which she complained about Owens’ four kids in the years leading up to the shooting.

Told almost entirely through police body camera footage, it chronicles several interactions between Lorincz and police. In those discussions, she drops two hints about her career. In one instance, she tells police that she works from home. In another, she states her name is Dr. Susan Lorincz.

She did not clarify what kind of doctorate degree she had or whether she was referring to her occupation.

Keep scrolling for everything we know about Susan Lorincz’s job before her arrest and conviction on a manslaughter charge.

Was Susan Lorincz a Doctor?

Other than Lorincz referring to herself as a doctor, there does not appear to be any evidence that she either has an advanced degree or worked as a medical doctor. Witness testimony from those who know Lorincz gave hints to several other occupations and seemed to indicate she has held a variety of jobs.

Susan Lorincz May Have Worked in Insurance

Pastor Shannon Lynn Harris of Lorincz’s Anthony United Methodist Church testified that the defendant would often help other members of the congregation with insurance issues because “Susan worked in the insurance industry.”

Reporting at the time of the trial suggests Lorincz may have also said herself that she worked in the insurance industry.

A Friend Says She Was ‘Always Working at Different Places’

Even if Lorincz worked in insurance, that wasn’t necessarily her only job. Lorincz’s friend Crystal Maksou testified that she was “always working places” but recently “had some licensing [work] she got from home and was working at home a lot.”

That corroborates Lorincz’s claim that was shown in the documentary.

Doctor Claimed Lorincz’s Work as an EMT Led to ‘Trauma’

Forensic psychologist Dr. Yenys Castillo testified during the trial that Lorincz worked as an EMT in her 20s — a claim that Lorincz’s younger sister, Ellyn Dorothy Lorincz, backed up. At the time, Susan was working near an airport and treating plane crash victims led to “trauma,” according to Castillo.

Castillo also said that Susan spent time “working in the kitchen as a chef” at a rehabilitation center.

What Happened to Susan After Her Trial?

A jury found Susan guilty of felony manslaughter with a firearm, and she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She is serving her sentence at Homestead Correctional Institution in South Florida.

“I find that the shooting was completely unnecessary,” Judge Robert Hodges said at her sentencing, per ABC News. “In this case, Ms. Lorincz was behind the door. The door was locked. She had already called law enforcement. They were en route. She knew they were en route. She was in a relatively safe position. For some reason, she went into her room and found a gun.”

He continued, “She could have stayed in the room and put another locked door between her and Ms. Owens, but she came back out, put herself in front of the door, and at the time she fired the gun through the door, she was safe.”