Stanley Williams (Tookie Williams)

Stanley "Tookie" Williams III was born on December 29, 1953, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents separated when he was young, and Williams moved with his mother to Los Angeles during childhood. Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, he became involved in street fighting and increasingly serious criminal activity as a teenager. His physical size and reputation as a fighter helped establish his standing among other young gang members.

Around 1971, Williams joined with Raymond Washington in forming what became the Crips. Initially centred in South Central Los Angeles, the organisation rapidly expanded as neighbourhood groups adopted the Crip identity. Williams became one of its most prominent early figures, earning the nickname "Big Took" and developing a formidable reputation within Los Angeles gang culture. The Crips subsequently fragmented into numerous independent sets and became one of the largest and most recognisable street-gang networks in the United States.

Williams's life during the 1970s was dominated by gang activity, violence and drug use. Although he later disputed some accounts of the Crips' formation and structure, he acknowledged his central role in establishing the gang and eventually expressed regret for helping create an organisation that became associated with widespread violence.

Williams was convicted of four murders arising from two robbery incidents committed in Los Angeles County in February and March 1979. The first occurred on February 28 at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Whittier. Albert Lewis Owens, a 26-year-old employee, was working at the store when Williams and accomplices entered to commit a robbery. Owens was taken into a back room and fatally shot with a shotgun.

The second incident occurred on March 11, 1979, at the Brookhaven Motel in Los Angeles. Yen-Yi Yang and his wife, Tsai-Shai Lin, operated the motel with their daughter, Yee-Chen Lin. All three were shot and killed during a robbery. Their son, Robert Yang, survived because he was away from the motel at the time.

Prosecutors linked Williams to both crimes through accomplice testimony, forensic evidence and statements witnesses said Williams made after the killings. Williams denied committing all four murders and maintained that position throughout his imprisonment, appeals and clemency proceedings.

The four murders occurred during armed commercial robberies rather than as part of a prolonged serial-killing pattern. A shotgun was used in both incidents, and prosecutors argued that Williams participated directly in the killings while stealing relatively small amounts of money from the businesses.

The prosecution presented evidence that the shotgun associated with Williams was used in both crimes. Witness testimony concerning statements Williams allegedly made following the murders also formed an important part of the case against him. Williams later challenged the reliability of prosecution witnesses and argued that his convictions were based partly on testimony from people who had incentives to cooperate with authorities.

Police arrested Williams in 1979 as investigators connected him with the two robbery-murder scenes. The investigation relied upon physical evidence, witness statements and testimony from individuals associated with Williams. Authorities ultimately charged him with the murders of Albert Owens, Yen-Yi Yang, Tsai-Shai Lin and Yee-Chen Lin.

Williams denied responsibility and claimed that prosecution witnesses had falsely implicated him. His attorneys later challenged several aspects of the investigation and trial through state and federal appeals, but the convictions remained intact.

Williams went on trial in Los Angeles County and was convicted in 1981 of all four murders, along with robbery charges. The jury also found special circumstances associated with the multiple murders and robberies, making him eligible for capital punishment. Williams was sentenced to death and transferred to San Quentin State Prison.

Over the following two decades, Williams pursued numerous appeals challenging his convictions and death sentence. His attorneys raised issues involving jury selection, prosecution evidence, witness credibility and other aspects of his trial. State and federal courts repeatedly declined to overturn the convictions or sentence.

As his execution approached in 2005, Williams's transformation into an anti-gang author became central to a highly publicised campaign seeking clemency. Supporters argued that his work discouraging young people from joining gangs demonstrated genuine rehabilitation and that his execution would eliminate an influential anti-violence voice. Opponents emphasised the four murder convictions, his refusal to admit responsibility for those crimes and questions concerning the extent of his separation from gang activity.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger considered Williams's clemency application but rejected it on December 12, 2005. Williams was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin shortly after midnight on December 13. He was 51 years old.

Williams underwent a significant public transformation during his decades on death row. After years that included disciplinary problems and periods in solitary confinement, he began writing material aimed at discouraging children from entering gangs. Working with author Barbara Cottman Becnel, he produced the Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence series and other books describing the consequences of gang membership and imprisonment. He also issued an apology for his role in creating the Crips.

His anti-gang work brought him international attention. Swiss parliamentarian Mario Fehr nominated Williams for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his efforts to discourage gang violence. Williams subsequently received additional nominations associated with his anti-gang work and writing, although he never received a Nobel Prize. His story became especially controversial because his public rehabilitation existed alongside his continued insistence that he was innocent of the four murders for which he had been condemned.

Williams's life inspired the 2004 television film Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story, with Jamie Foxx portraying Williams. The film concentrated on his transition from Crips co-founder and death-row prisoner to author and anti-gang campaigner. Foxx received a Golden Globe nomination for the performance. Williams's execution the following year generated extensive international coverage and renewed debate about capital punishment, rehabilitation and clemency.

• California state and federal court records
• California Governor's Office
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
• Los Angeles Times
• Associated Press
• ABC News
• CBS News
• NBC News
• CNN