Raymond Washington

Raymond Lee Washington (August 14, 1953 – August 9, 1979) was an American gangster, known as the founder of the Crips gang in Los Angeles. Washington formed the Crips as a minor street gang in the late 1960s in South Los Angeles, becoming a prominent local crime boss. In 1971, Washington formed an alliance with Stanley "Tookie" Williams, establishing the Crips as the first major African-American street gang in Los Angeles, and served as one of the co-leaders. In 1974, Washington was convicted of robbery and received a five-year prison sentence, during which his leadership and influence in the Crips declined.

On August 9, 1979, Raymond Washington was murdered in a drive-by shooting shortly after his release from prison.

Biography

Early life

Raymond Lee Washington was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 14, 1953, the youngest of four sons to Violet Samuel and Reginald Cecil Washington. His parents separated when he was two years old, and he was raised by his mother and stepfather. He grew up on East 76th Street, between Wadsworth Avenue and Central Avenues in Los Angeles' South Central. Washington had a half-brother, Derard S. Barton, from his mother's second marriage. Although Raymond Lee Washington was raised mostly by his mother and stepfather, he was still close to his father's brother, Willard D. Washington, who worked for the United States Department of Interior as an analytical chemist from 1959-1968 and as a forensic chemist for the ATF from 1968-1990.