http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/04/MNGH0G2P9H1.DTL A .45-caliber bullet didn't lead Diego Garcia to give up the violent gang life he had known for years. Stanley Tookie Williams did.
Garcia, who grew up in the housing projects on Richmond's Easter Hill, joined a gang at age 9 and took part in drug deals, beatings and drive-by shootings before he was shot when he was 18. Months of recovery gave him plenty of time to think about making changes.
"I was completely confused. I didn't know whether I should choose the right path," said Garcia, now 30. "I read Tookie's books and it inspired me. I related to him. The books are different because it is the co-founder of the Crips giving you a message. Tookie caught my attention."
Williams is scheduled to be executed at San Quentin State Prison Dec. 13 for the shotgun murders of four people in the Los Angeles area in 1979. He maintains he is innocent, an assertion no court has agreed with, and now his lawyers are pinning their hopes on a clemency hearing Thursday before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
