Dr Js

More than 15 years after the Dr J's shooting, a lot of people are thinking about what's next. Southeast San Diego residents want the government and police to change, and they want their communities to change for the better.

After the shooting at Dr J's, police and prosecutors looked for informants who would trade information for reduced sentences and money to move away from San Diego. One informant in particular shows what a difficult decision that can be.

In the case against James Carter, the prosecutor used a common tactic when trying people from Southeast San Diego, especially young black men. He established a link between Carter and a gang, and then used that link to establish a motive.

The shooting at Dr J's has had ripple effects throughout the community and the rest of the city. But it also impacted the people directly involved—the families of the women who were killed, and the family of the man who was eventually convicted of their murder.

A gang shooting in Lincoln Park killed two women on their way home from church. After the shooting, some people said the police department flooded the streets with officers arresting everybody. Others became more willing to work with police.

The crime was so perfectly horrific — two women on their way home from church, two kids in the back seat — that it made people pay more attention to Southeast San Diego, a lower income and predominantly African-American pocket of the city.