Welcome back to another episode of Warren Cali. The rise of Crips began in the early 1970s, rooted in South Central Los Angeles and nearby Compton. Early figures often associated with its formation include Raymond Washington and Stanley Tookie Williams. At the start, it was not a single unified gang, but a collection of neighborhood-based groups that adopted a shared identity.
The early cliques were driven by the need for protection, recognition, and belonging in communities where opportunities were limited and tension was always present. As more neighborhoods began claiming the [ __ ] identity, the group expanded rapidly, spanning across South Central and building a reputation that drew both recruits and also rivals.
As the Crips grew in size and influence, other neighborhood groups began forming alliances and oppositions. These alliances became known as the Bloods, emerging in the mid-1970s. The Bloods were like a coalition of independent sets based all in Los Angeles County. Their formation marked a turning point, creating a clear divide that would define gang wars in Los Angeles and other places for decades.
The Bloods developed their own identity, symbols, territory, and the rivalry between them and the Crips quickly intensified. By the mid-to-late ’70s, the emergence of the Bloods created clear opposition to the Crips and the division intensified conflicts across South Central and other places.
Now, neighborhoods were now more formally aligned and identity became tied to either side. Violence during this time period became more structured, where retaliation played a central role. Shootings became more frequent. By the end of the ’70s decade, gang identity was deeply embedded and cycles of retaliation would become more predictable and ongoing rather than isolated incidents.
And that leads us to the story. One of those [ __ ] sets that emerged was the Rolling 30 Crips. They were originally known as the Harlem Godfathers during the early ’70s, making them one of the oldest [ __ ] sets in South Central. Beginning from the Jefferson Park area, Los Angeles, the Rolling 30s consisted of Avenues, Dinkins Park, 35th, 37th, and 39th Street as their cliques.
On the other side, the Rolling 30 had several rivals. Some of their main rivals being Bloods like BPS and the Rolling 20 Bloods. BPS and the 20 Bloods both have a long history just like the 30s. Dating back over 50 years ago, becoming Bloods in the ’70s. They became one of the Los Angeles’ deadliest Blood gangs in history with numbers and a lot of reputable members.
Being surrounded by a lot of respected [ __ ] gangs, they had to be active. With being so close to distance to the 30 Crips, 20s and BPS would be instant rivals to them. Their war still goes on today, which many lives have been taken from their war. Their war has been documented in documentaries and several books like Rolling 30 [ __ ] Colton Simpson’s book Inside the Crips, along with 20 Bloods book Terrell Local Wright.
He published a book called Home of the Body Bags that chronicles his life in the gang during the ’80s and ’90s and what prison has been like for him during the 2000s. Edwin Smith, also known as Black Ed, was an active member in that war, but he was on the Rolling 30 [ __ ] side. He gained a fresh reputation at a young age.
He was known for selling drugs and also being an active shooter. And the Bloods were always his target, which the Rolling 20 Bloods and the Black P Stones, also known as BPS, were always the Bloods he was aiming for. By 1984, Ed was a 19-year-old high school dropout. The streets fully took over his life and he was fully committed to his gang and killing rivals.
He was known as someone always looking for issues and trying to further his reputation. By January 1984, the war was full-fledged between the 30s and the Bloods. Dorsey High School in South Central was a safe haven for Bloods and Crips knew if he wanted to catch a Blood, Dorsey was the place to be.
You had several Blood members going to that school, including Bloods from the 20s and BPS. Dorsey is primarily a Blood school. That’s uh that is that um the majority of gang members that go there are Bloods. Although there are a few Crips, but they keep a very very low low profile. Around 2:00 p.m.
, Black Ed and several Crips waited outside of Dorsey High School, where uh several students were hanging out and some were leaving the school. Several Blood members began to emerge and both the [ __ ] side and the Blood group began to trade insults, which led to a confrontation and bullets began to fly. Two people would be shot.
A Blood gang member named Ronald Gregory, who was 25, was killed and a 17-year-old high school junior named Ernest Pickett Jr. Sad case about this, Ernest was not even a gang member. He was an honor roll student with a bright future. He was also a highly recruited baseball star with several D1 offers. Black! Somebody get SOME HELP! AH, SOMEBODY HELP!
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POLICE SAY bullets fired by Edwin Smith killed a 25-year-old gang member. Fatally wounded 17-year-old Ernie Pickett. Ernie was shot in the back. Doctors could not save his life. My husband met me at the door and he said uh “Come on in, honey. We have some bad news for you.” And uh I knew it was Ernie.
I don’t know I don’t know how I knew, but I knew it was Ernie. I didn’t have any idea that it was there. The Towers joined family and friends beginning, the entire community rallied around Ernie’s mother and family. The story was big news and there was a strong sense of outrage. The gangs decided that they would go to school of all places to have a war, to shoot at other people.
After several people identified Ed as the shooter, he was later arrested. The incident stunned the student body at Dorsey, where Ernest Pickett was a beloved and popular classmate. But despite the presence of hundreds of witnesses, police could not get nobody to testify. Many later said that they were threatened with violence if they did.
Many 30 [ __ ] members were scaring off witnesses and that eventually led to Ed being released and not being charged for the murders. Student eyewitnesses told police they saw Smith kill Ernie Pickett. It looked like an open-and-shut case, but when it came time for the preliminary hearing, no one stepped forward to testify.
The students were scared to death. Some said they were threatened with retaliation if they spoke up. They just let you know not say anything. So, they didn’t have to tell us what they would do. Hurting somebody or killing somebody, it didn’t make any difference to them. If they said “Don’t say anything,” you didn’t say anything.
April 4th, 1984, the court dismissed all charges against Smith. He was free. Insufficient evidence, the judge said. No witnesses would talk and as time passed, the case went away like so many Los Angeles gang murders in that time. He was freed after the 1984 arrest, but he continued in his crime career, police said.
Detectives said he was racking up a number of arrests in the years that followed. In January ’93, a woman with a great track record of cracking cold cases was assigned to take over the manhunt. In October 1993, Black Ed by then was a seasoned cocaine trafficker and he was connected to a third man’s murder and witnesses finally came forward after a speech at a halfway house.
In fact, police said they believed that Ed killed another man as recently as October 6th, 1993 and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The victim in the case was a man named Ronald Dean Miller. He was an ex-convict and he was counseling children. Many state that he was a gang member. After this, police was on his trails after a tip from a viewer on a television show called America’s Most Wanted, which came out in 1995.
They premiered an episode showing Black Ed’s crimes and plastered him all over the TV. 10 years to see her son’s accused murderer brought to justice. Help us find gang member Edwin Smith. He’s wanted on three counts of murder. Smith is 29 years old, 6 feet tall, and 185 lb. May have grown his hair long.
May be wearing a full beard and mustache. Smith has several tattoos. The letters RTC on his left arm, the number 30 on the right arm, and Harlem [ __ ] on his left forearm. His nickname is Black Ed and sometimes uses the alias Jeff Lewis. Police say he makes a living selling drugs and has a very violent temper.
Los Angeles police believe Smith may be on the run with this man, Kenneth Richardson. Both are wanted for the murder of a man in 1993. Kenneth Richardson is another [ __ ] gang member. Goes by the alias Kenneth Boyd. If you’ve seen either one of these men, call our hotline at The new detective built a new case against Ed.
Detectives received a tip from a caller who recognized the last four digits on car Ed was driving. They searched DMV records and found a red Camaro registered to another name at Lancaster. Ed was using a different name and he was now about 50 lb heavier and wearing prescription glasses in his photo. Detectives found Ed living with a woman and his 5-year-old son.
They stated, “It’s a great feeling to know that after 2 years of hard work, it finally came together.” They also stated, “It would have not happened if not for the public’s presence. Black Ed was later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for three murders. This will conclude this episode.
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