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Waters later told police that White had planned to rob Jackson. The two men worked out their plan at the 34th Street and Troost bus stop.
After Jackson let them inside the shop, White demanded money. The barber passed it to him but then grabbed White's left arm. White pulled a gun from a pocket and fired. The bullet struck his own arm before hitting Jackson. White fired several more shots at Jackson after he was down, and he and Waters fled through the Save-A-Lot parking lot next door. Three witnesses helped police locate White and Waters, who were arrested within 24 hours of the shooting.
"They were able to catch the guys because of the people who lived in the neighborhood," Carlock says. "We live in a time when people won't talk, for fear of retribution. But the shop meant enough that it outraged people to know that someone had done something like that. I like to think they took that risk because Joe and the shop meant something to them. They didn't have to do that. People could have just said, 'I don't know.' "
Carlock opened the shop the Saturday after Jackson was killed. He had to break the news to a few of Jackson's clients when they arrived for appointments. Other customers simply came to sit and talk and cry in the comfort of the barbershop. Jackson's chair would remain unfilled.
"When crime occurs in a business, people believe it will be able to bounce back," Carlock says. "But that couldn't happen here. Because this was a barbershop, it was like it happened in your home.
"What happened didn't change how I felt about the area," Carlock adds. "The area gets the label. But this wasn't something the community wanted. It was something that two individuals did."
On January 4 of this year, White was sentenced to 20 years in prison, following his second-degree-murder conviction. Waters has a plea hearing Friday, January 18.
The former clients have started to return, but Carlock has not. He says he struggles with guilt and loss. But he remains active in the redevelopment of Hyde Park, working with the Troost Village Community Association. He intends eventually to open another business in the neighborhood.
"I don't want to say I'll be back because I don't think I ever left," he says. "You just can't surrender to those types of things. If you surrender here, you'll have to surrender everywhere."
Diamond Cuts upholds Carlock's community vision, and Diamond says he hopes that the rest of the city can see what he sees through his shop's windows. The glass vibrates as Troost MAX buses roll by. The door buzzer is gone.
"I don't want what happened to be a stigma," Diamond says. "If a barbershop can open in a community and get love from people, it's part of how we start rebuilding Troost."
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