I was on the phone with one of my cousins and she asks me "Hey, do you remember <name>?" I'll use the name Theo. I remember Theo, being a wannabe thug who used to hang out with another guy guy that my cousin was dating through high school. I would run into Theo every so often around San Diego and he was always acting like some hard *** gangster from Compton. I ran into him a few months after I graduated from college and he seemed to have turned his life around. Finished up school, got a serious girlfriend that he eventually married and had a kid with later.
Turns out he straightened up because he killed a guy during a car robbery back in 1995 and got away with it until now. Scared himself straight, from what it looks like. He was with other people that somehow the police were able to get a lead on and then once everyone started talking, he was found to be the shooter. He plead guilty to avoid a death penalty prosecution and was sentence to life in prison just about 2 months ago. The other guys he was with were all sentenced from 6-15 years in prison.
He had a reputation of stealing and joyriding cars, which is why neither my cousins or I would associate with him (he was a reason why my cousin and the guy she was dating broke up because she didn't want to deal with Theo). I feel pretty bad for his wife and child though. I'm assuming that they had no idea of what he did and their world is now turned upside down.
Life can really be a ******* at times.