Two years ago community activist Garry “Twin” Dorton was murdered in his South Los Angeles neighborhood. What was unique about Dorton’s story was that he was a former gang member. He joined the Crips as a young man and it was during his time Dorton was usually armed. He became a leader of the Rollin’ 40s Crips. He dealt crack and drove around in a Mercedes-Benz. And, of course, he was in constant war with the Bloods. He was just 12 years old when he committed his first robbery and first drug deal. He became a father at 15.
“Like lacing my shoes and putting a belt on, I had to put a gun on. That was the way of life,” Dorton said in a 2017 interview with The Los Angeles Times.
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“In the late 1990s, as Dorton approached his 30th birthday, the police seemed determined to put him away. His criminal record was sparse — reckless driving, cocaine possession. But they were threatening to slap him with a gang enhancement, which could have meant a long sentence,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
But Dorton, 48, tired of this life and decided he wanted to help others get out of the gang life. “They were locking up a lot of people at the time, so we just had to change up,” Dorton said in the 2017 interview. “I got tired of fighting those cases and all that. I said, ‘Well, you know, I’ve got to change, got to go to work, got to go back to school, you know, start doing things like trying to keep it productive.’”
He began mentoring young people in his community.
“At 48, with five children, he had settled into modest prosperity as a gang interventionist for the city with a side gig providing security for TV and film shoots, such as John Singleton’s ‘Snowfall,’” The Los Angeles Times reported.
Dorton went on to get his GED and took classes at Cal State L.A. He soon began to offer counsel to young people and became a steady presence at community events. He even earned a full-time gig as a foot soldier in the mayor’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development Program.
He became a peacemaker.
“Peacemakers are generally considered off-limits in gang warfare. But it is inherently risky to put yourself in the middle of angry, armed factions, to work with both police and gang members, to navigate complex gang politics where one misstep could be fatal,” The Times reported.
But Dorton’s past caught up with him and he was shot and killed in the neighborhood he grew up in.
“Dorton’s funeral drew an unlikely crowd, but one that reflected his work as a peacemaker — gang members from all over the city, including mortal enemies of the Rollin’ 40s, like Bloods and Hoovers, as well as a representative from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office,” The Times reported.
Three men in their teens and early 20s were arrested in connection with Dorton’s death — Brandon Dixon, 22; Dejone Wright, 20; and Omario Guerrero, 18. Each was charged with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder. According to Capt. Peter Whittingham, head of the South Bureau Homicide Division, the shooters were from a rival gang, and they targeted Dorton.
“I always tried to get him to move out of the community, but he loved that community,” Dorton’s grandmother, Eula Montgomery, told the Los Angeles Times. “You could always find Garry on that street where he was raised and born.”
