On this day, Feb. 28, in 1979, Stanley “Tookie’ Williams III, the founder of the notorious Crips gang in Los Angeles, killed the first of four people during a two-week armed robbery spree in Southern California.
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The first victim, Albert Owens, 26, an Army veteran and father of two, was ordered to lie on the floor of the 7-Eleven store where he worked and then was shot twice in the back.
Two weeks later Williams shot and killed three Taiwanese immigrants who operated a motel in South Central Los Angeles.
Williams was convicted of all four murders and sentenced to death.
Williams later became an author of several books including anti-gang and anti-violence literature. To his supporters, which included actors and celebrities, Williams was a symbol of redemption.
He never admitted to the killings. He was executed in December 2005.
