Heartbreaking reason The Perfect Neighbor chose to include raw reactions of Ajike Owens’ kids

Every scene of The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix was gut-wrenching. But one that will probably stay with us all forever was watching Ajike Owens’ own kids find out they had lost their mother forever. Not only did some of the children witness the shooting, but we saw first-hand the moment their father delivered the news that she had passed away.

After being taken away from the scene to hospital, bodycam footage showed the entire community in pieces. It wasn’t long before news travelled that Ajike hadn’t made it, and it was down to the father of her four children to tell them what had happened.

He gripped his children in his arms, and tragically told them: “Today has been a very bad day. Something bad has happened. Y’all seen it. Y’all understand it. Y’all experienced it, right? We all love mom. I got some bad news to tell you. Mom’s not coming back.”

The creator of the show, Geeta Gandbhir, has since spoken in an interview about the difficult decision to keep those scenes in the film. She and Ajike Owens’ mother, Pamela Dias, spoke in depth about what footage from the event would be shown.

via Netflix

Geeta told USA Today: “If we allow things like this to remain in the dark and we don’t shine a light on them, they will continue to happen. But when people bear witness, they are often inspired to take action.”

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Pamela Dias shared more about what it was like to see her grandchildren’s’ reactions like that. “I just broke down. My heart was broken, was just shattered,” she said “They were so young. Just imagine what they were feeling and experiencing at that very moment to learn that their mother wasn’t coming back.”

Today, Pamela Dias now looks after the children. She has acknowledged her grandkids are “still very much in pain, but they’re very resilient.”  She added: “There is real change, and a purpose has been born out of our tragedy.” The family has always maintained that they have shared their heartbreak, so that people can see it – and acknowledge it.

The Perfect Neighbor is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.