Lamonte McIntyre

Ask Lamonte McIntyre how he’s doing these days, and you won’t hear the normal platitudes of “I’m fine” or “Doing all right!” 

 

“Peaceful,” he’ll say. 

 

It’s been a long time coming. 

 

After 23 years incarcerated for a double homicide he did not commit, Lamonte walked free in October of 2017. 

 

He’s spent the time since then building peace for himself and his family. 

 

Since he was 11 years old, Lamonte was gifted at cutting hair: he would cut his brother’s hair, as well as his neighbors’. Even in prison, he would pull out his tools and shape up his fellow inmates’ hair. So one of the first things he did upon his 2017 release was open Off The Top Barbershop in his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas. He also co-owns Headlines Barber Academy, which trains future barbers in the community (and is the same school he graduated from himself).  

 

Lamonte also opened a real estate company with his brother, McIntosh Property Group in Phoenix, where the pair buys, renovates, and sells properties. He now lives in Phoenix with his wife (“I wanted to be where it was always sunny,” he said). 

 

It, of course, hasn’t always been sunshine for Lamonte: it took 23 years for the truth to come to light in his case, and not before decades were stripped away from him. 

 

When he was only 17, Lamonte was arrested for a double homicide committed in broad daylight in Kansas City, Kansas — despite the fact he was with his aunt and cousins across town. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. He did not know the victims, and the state presented no motive.

 

And after eight years of investigation, the tragedy ran even deeper. Detective Roger Golubski with the KCK Police Department, notorious for his sexual abuse of women in the community, had previously harassed and abused Lamonte’s mother, causing her to move to get away from him. After her rebuffs, the detective created a five-person lineup for the double homicide — including Lamonte and two other McIntyre family members. 

 

Despite eyewitnesses telling the prosecutor Lamonte was not the shooter, the truth — and the extensive official misconduct — was not presented to the jury. 

 

As a teenager, Lamonte went to prison for what would eventually turn into 23 years.

 

It’s no longer that experience that defines him — his life is full of his businesses, his life in sunny Arizona, and “whatever the day brings,” whether it’s hiking or motorbiking through the southwest. 

 

But Lamonte also recognizes the power he now holds. Upon his release, he co-founded Miracle of Innocence, an organization that helps people who have been wrongfully incarcerated, both with legal representation and re-entry services after they leave prison.

 

Lamonte got that same type of help from MIP — and he wants to make sure others in a similar position are one day able to find the peace he’s found. 

 

“The level of desperation I had when I was trying to find help – it was a thing until someone believed me and actually tried to help me,” he said. “I was around other people who felt that same desperation (in prison), so when I came home, that’s all I saw for a long time. I couldn’t hear nothing, see nothing – just these people’s voices calling out for help. I know how that feels and I can’t turn my back.”