Convicted killer Williams put to death in Calif.

‘Cold-blooded murder’
“Tonight is planned, efficient, calculated, antiseptic, cold-blooded murder and I think everyone who is here is here to try to enlist the morality and soul of this country,” said Joan Baez, who sang “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

However, others were at San Quentin to honor the memory of Williams’ victims: store clerk Albert Owens, 26, and motel owners Yen-I Yang, 76 and Tsai-Shai Yang, 63, and their daughter, Ye-Chen Lin, 43.

Debbie Lynch said Williams didn’t deserve to be spared because he did not admit his crimes.

“If he admitted to it, the governor might have had a reason to spare his life,” said Lynch, 52, of Milpitas.

Williams founded the Crips gang with a friend in 1971. Authorities say the gang is responsible for hundreds of deaths, many of them in battles with the rival Bloods for turf and control of the drug trade.

Whatever luck Williams found on the streets avoiding the law ended in 1979 after the four were killed in a pair of armed robberies that were connected to him and his pump-action shotgun.

Prepared to die
Williams never wavered from his claim of innocence and said he refused to confess to crimes he did not commit, even if doing so would save his life. He said he had redeemed himself while in prison and apologized for starting the Crips.

“There is no part of me that existed then that exists now,” Williams said recently during several hours of interviews with The Associated Press. He said that while he wanted to live and continue his work with children, he was prepared to die.

“I haven’t had a lot of joy in my life. But in here,” he says, pointing to his heart, “I’m happy. I am peaceful in here. I am joyful in here.”

The author of children’s books was nominated several times for Nobel prizes. He regularly spoke by telephone to students, teachers and community groups about brokering peace in a violent world. His supporters say he saved hundreds of young people’s lives.

Albert Owens’ stepmother, Lora, was among the outspoken advocates for Williams’ execution.

“(Williams) chose to shoot Albert in the back twice. He didn’t do anything do deserve it. He begged for his life,” she said during a recent interview. “He shot him not once, but twice in the back. ... I believe Williams needs to get the punishment he was given when he was tried and sentenced.”

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