Stanley Williams

Stanley "Tookie" Williams (29 December 1953-13 December 2005) was one of the original founders and leaders of the Crips gang in Los Angeles, California. In 1979, he was convicted of four murders and sentenced to death, and, although he attempted to reform and wrote a series of children's books, he was executed in 2005.

Biography

Early life

Williams as a child

Stanley Williams was born in Delhi, Louisiana in 1953, the son of a single 17-year-old mother. The family moved to New Orleans before moving to Los Angeles in 1956, settling in South Central. As Williams' mother worked several jobs to support them, Williams was a latchkey kid, and he often hung out in abandoned houses and vacant lots, taking part in adult-supervised fights with other kids. Williams won money from adults betting on him, and, by age twelve, he began carrying a switchblade to protect himself. He was expelled from high school and spent time in juvenile detention, becoming a known fighter.

Gang activity

"Tookie" as a teenager

In the late 1960s, as older gangs joined the Black Power movement, youth gangs became more powerful, and Williams was arrested in 1969 for a car theft in Inglewood. Shortly after his release from custody in 1971, he met Raymond Washington, and they formed the Crips to eliminate all street gangs and create a neighborhood watch in South Central. Most gangs joined the Crips, becoming subgroups (sets) within the larger Crips gang. Some hold-out gangs formed the Bloods to rival the Crips, and the Crips engaged in violent acts both against their Bloods rivals and against civilians.

Crips leader

Williams after being wounded

By 1974, Williams was the only living and free leader of the Crips; Washington was murdered that same year. In 1976, Williams was wounded in a drive-by shooting by the Bloods at the porch of his house in Compton, and he lost his ability to walk for two years. After the shooting, Williams developed a substance abuse problem when he began smoking PCP, and he supported his drug habit by intimidating and robbing drug dealers in South Central. In 1979, he was convicted of four counts of murder during two robberies and was sentenced to death.

Behind bars

Williams appealed his death sentence, and, starting in 1997, he wrote several children's books that discouraged gang membership. In 2005, he also published his memoir. Williams befriended journalist Barbara Becnel after she interviewed him from behind bars, and she was one of many who came to advocate for clemency. However, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected the appeals, and Williams was executed by lethal injection on 13 December 2005.