Stanley Williams

Stanley Williams

Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was a leader of the Crips, a notorious American street gang which has its roots in South Central Los Angeles in 1969. In 1979 he was convicted of four murders committed in the course of robberies, sentenced to death, and eventually executed. Once incarcerated, he authored several books, including anti-gang and anti-violence literature and children's books.

Williams refused to help police investigate his gang, and was implicated in attacks on guards and women, as well as multiple escape plots. In 1993, Williams began making changes in his behavior, and became an anti-gang activist while on Death Row in California. He renounced his gang affiliation and apologized for his role in founding the Crips, although still refused to help police investigate the gang. He also co-wrote children's books and participated in efforts intended to prevent youths from joining gangs. A biographical TV-movie entitled Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story was made in 2004, and featured Jamie Foxx as Williams.

On December 13, 2005, Williams was executed by lethal injection after clemency and a four-week stay of execution were both rejected by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, amidst debate over the death penalty and whether Williams' anti-gang advocacy in prison represented genuine atonement for his quadruple murder or was just a way to escape execution. Williams was the second inmate in California to be executed in 2005.