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i ran the streets. grew up in the streets. life in the streets. what you see is what the streets created. we met miramontes at the orange county jail. he said before coming here he was a member of a los angeles street gang and a meth addict. it seemed out of sorts with the young man who enjoyed reading novels and writing poetry. i like to read a lot. i like nicholas sparks. walk to remember. notebook. oh, so like romantics? oh, yeah. i m a sucker for that. do you cry when you read the sad parts? yeah. most of the guys don t want to admit that because, hey, we re in jail. you know. but i don t care. but miramontes was facing the possibility of a lifetime in prison. been down almost two years. my charges are special circumstance murder. big case. big case.
I really didn t care what i was doing. hanging out on the streets all day. there was one time i didn t sleep for like four, six days. just running around here, running around there. bad. using meth a lot. maybe that s why i m so skinny. miramontes spends large parts of his day drawing, reading, or writing poetry. he says he s forsaken his gang and is now housed in protective custody. but he says it s worth it. well, i don t want this lifestyle. look where it got me. you know. i don t want this lifestyle for no one. they use you. spit you up. his analogy was, it s like bubble gum. when you put it in, it s real fresh and chewy. you chew it up for a little while and you spit it out. and that s his analogy of the gang.
miramontes had ented a not guilty plea and was still awaiting trial when we met him. the night of the murder, he says he was visiting friends in an orange county gang and that they were all drinking and high on drugs. while driving around their neighborhood, his friend stopped to confront a 19-year-old man who had allegedly flashed a rival gang sign. what ended up happening was the orange county home boys exited the vehicle, and a fight ensued which turned into a stabbing, which turned into a slashing, and the victim s neck was cut, and he bled to death at the scene. miramontes admits to being in the car but says he never participated in the murder. i m from l.a. i m not from orange county. so, why bother getting in the mix? so i just decided to stay in the car. one of those situations, you re in a bad place at the wrong time, you know. i was there. so i m here now. facing a long time.