All God's Children: book review

In the spring of 2003, Jessica Williams, a twenty-three year old woman with fetal alcohol syndrome, was brutally murdered in Portland by a group of homeless teenagers. As more information emerged about the nature of the crime, a bizarre scenario surfaced: the Thantos street family, one of a number of similar groups roaming downtown Portland, had killed Williams for "breaking code." The Thantos family was named for the "street father," one James Nelson (or Thantos), a charismatic ex-convict who rallied a bunch of gutter punks under his flag. Nelson is a sort of Manson-figure, ridiculous but dangerous, and under his ostensible leadership the family grew into a hierarchical and violent gang.

( Rene Denfield's All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families follows the events leading up to and resulting from the murder. )