Criminals

Eng. 121: college Writing 1

HW#4: Prewrite

A. 10 Facts

1. Stanley Tookie Williams III is born in New Orleans Charity Hospital to a 17-year-old mother and a father who deserted the family before Williams' first birthday.

2. Williams joins the Crips street gang, already formed by high school friend Raymond Washington.

3. Williams publishes a memoir of his years behind bars on San Quentin's death row. He says the tone of the book is intended to warn kids away from following his life of crime. "To get a feel for what it's like to live in a prison cell, test yourself,"

4. On December 12, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger denied clemency for Williams.

5. The Crips grew in power throughout the 1970s and became known as one of America's most violent street gangs. Williams was convicted and sentenced to death in 1981 for four murders committed during two separate robberies in 1979.

6. There are over 100 Los Angeles gang members on California's Death row, but in December, William's execution, marks the first time a gang member in California met that fate.

7. Outside the gates of San Quentin as midnight approached, speakers urged calm. There was a moment of tension when a Williams' friend, Fred Jackson, told the crowd, "It's all over." Angry shouts broke out. A woman sobbed on someone's shoulder, and a man burned an American flag.

8. The Supreme Court refused to take the case of California death row inmate Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a founder of the Crips street gang. The 51-year-old former gang member who claims he is innocent was condemned for killing four people