Williams’ Ashes Spread
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RICHMOND, Calif. — The ashes of executed Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams were spread in a lake in Soweto, South Africa, in accordance with his will, friends and associates said last week.
Barbara Becnel, who was coauthor of books with Williams and witnessed his Dec. 13 execution, said in a statement released Friday that she and Williams’ longtime friend Shirley Neal sprinkled the ashes in the lake June 25 in Soweto’s Thokoza Park, as Williams had requested.
“On his last day of life, Stan asked me to spread his ashes in South Africa,” said Becnel. “He wanted to return to the motherland.”
Williams was cremated after his death by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.
A co-founder of the Crips street gang, he was convicted of murdering four people during two 1979 holdups. He claimed to have redeemed himself by writing children’s books encouraging youngsters to stay away from gangs.
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