Stanley "Tookie" Williams

Stanley Tookie Williams III was best known for being one of the original founders and leaders of the Crips gang in Los Angeles, California who was executed by lethal injection. He also was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, an International Peace Mediator, and an author. In 1971, Williams and Raymond Washington formed an alliance establishing the Crips as the first major African-American street gang in South Central Los Angeles. Williams became the de facto leader and the prominent crime boss in South Central in the 1970s. In 1979, Williams was convicted for the murder of four people during two robberies, and was sentenced to death. The highly publicized trial of Williams and extensive appeals for clemency sparked debate on the status of the death penalty in California.