Tookie Williams III

To Kill Or Not To Kill

Crip founder, Stanly Williams III, also known as “Tookie”, was born December 29,1953 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was known for being a gang member, an Activist, as well as a writer. Mr. Williams and his mother left New Orleans in 1959, shortly after his father abandoned the family. They moved to Los Angeles hoping to find a better way of life for Tookie and his family. He described the neighborhood as an “Affluent –looking South Central Neighborhood,” where they rented their first apartment. Tookie Williams began to wander the streets at the age of six. He began to find the streets more interesting than being at home. As him being the new kid on the block, he had to learn quickly how to defend himself from the neighborhood

bullies. He would watch the adult of the neighborhood get drunk and abuse drugs, as well as get high on other drugs.

Before he reached his teens years he had became one the most vicious street fighters. He would later become the co-founder of the west side Crips at the age of 17. Being introduced to weightlifting by a gym coach while being in the detention center. In the year of 1976 Tookie lost his maternal grandmother in which he was very close too. His life now started to unravel, losing his job as a counselor in 1977 for being implicated in a robbery in which the suspects were from the group home Tookie worked at. At this point in his life he was going through many challenges in his life being that he was a gang leader as well as a member several things that he loves doing were being taken away like he entering in an Amateur bodybuilding contest. He was denied entrance because of the fact he was member of a gang. Tookie found himself experiencing with drug he encountered a drug habit. For which he funded this addiction by robbing other drug dealers. This would become his undoing as most would say. Three fellow gang members under the influence of PCP-laced cigarettes and drove into a convenience store with

intention of robbing it. Tookie Williams shot the clerk. This is when he committed his first crime and after being caught he denied it killing the clerk known as Albert Owen. In the same year around the month of March on the 11 Tookie Williams broke into a office. A couple of years later he would be involved in a murder of four people in which he was convicted as the result he was sentenced to death. Albert Owens was the clerk of the seven eleven convenience store. Tookie always maintained that he was innocence, there were many court reviews giving to the case, even with the compelling evidence to give a new trial. (https://www.biography.com/people/stanley-tookie-williams-476676)
The U.S supreme court on June 20, 2002 declared that by executed of the “mentally retarded” is unconstitutional as well as cruel and unusual punishment not only was the William’s case trial unfairly.

A particular case was Earl Washington who had and IQ of 69. In 1983 he was coerced by police to confess to a murder. In 1982 Mr. Earl was sentenced to death Sixteen years later DNA evidence provide him innocent.

(https://www.utm.edu/staff/jfieser/class/300/9-cap-pun.htm)
Though the death penalty has been in effect for 110 years and people are well aware of it the death penalty do not stop people from killing their kind as well others around them. In the year 2004, 62% of the people said that the death penalty was in effective. (http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=united+states+of+america)
Experts suggest that criminal behavior and the nation rate may best be curbed by addressing the environment and social factors that contribute to violent crimes. Dr. Diane Elliot say’s that “the murder rate is most closely associated with the socioeconomic”. Other searches show’s that murder rate was higher during the Great Depression.
Most people on death row lived in poverty or they are from the mist blighted part of the U.S . They are very poor and very impoverished, Most have mental problems, which is also another reason they should not us the death penalty in the U.S or anywhere else. (https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/2200)