Sunday, Oct. 04, 2009

Ex-Chicago gang boss spends days feeding spiders

Once reputed to be a leader of one of the most violent Chicago gangs, The Two-Sixers, David Ayala now gathers insects to feed the spiders that spin their webs at the edges of his concrete exercise yard at the Tamms supermax prison.

Ayala is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement.

He has not been convicted of any crime during his 26 years in prison. He publicly renounced his gang more than nine years ago. His family claims he's a changed man.

Yet, he remains in the harshest conditions the Illinois Department of Corrections doles out -- 23 hours a day of solitary confinement inside the Tamms Correctional Center.

Ayala was arrested at 18 for the shooting deaths of two Latin King gang members in the lower West Side of Chicago. He received a life sentence in 1983. Ayala was placed in Tamms after authorities deemed him a security threat -- one of the supermax's first residents.

The Illinois Department of Corrections said in 2000 that 75 percent of Tamms inmates were gang members. More than a year later, the prison reform group, the John Howard Association, said the gang renunciation policy at Tamms was an "impediment," a major roadblock in the pathway out of Tamms and back to another facility.

Ayala is one of 159 administrative detention inmates at Tamms, according to Illinois Department of Corrections. Since 1999, 35 offenders have been transferred from Tamms after successful gang renunciation. Ayala completed Illinois Department of Corrections' Gang Renunciation Program more than nine years ago, but was not granted release from Tamms, where he remains alone in his cell for 23 hours a day.

"He's been locked up so long that he probably isn't that relevant to the typical 19-year-old gang member, " said Art Lurigio, professor of criminal justice and psychology at Loyola University. "He may have some significance because he may be part of the gang's mythology, but he's probably no longer regarded as a major player. That isn't to say they wouldn't command respect, but it's a big challenge to exert any control while incarcerated-- especially in a place like Tamms."

Ayala can't make or receive phone calls. He is allowed one visit a month.

"I don't understand why he's there," said Ayala's 71-year-old mother, Josephine Ayala Maloney. "He's forgotten. He's a lost child. The Illinois Department of Corrections put him down there and forgot about him."

Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle stated last month he found during an inquiry that 45 of the prison's 250 inmates should have their cases reviewed to see whether they should be transferred out of Tamms.

A transfer for Ayala would place him at one of the state's three maximum security facility -- Pontiac, Stateville or Menard. All three are closer to his family, making visits easier for his mother, brothers and sister.

But for now, Maloney continues to make the 730-mile round-trip journey every month for a four-hour visit with her son. It takes about six hours each way, she said.

During those visits, Ayala talks to his mother through glass about movies that he's seen reviewed in newspapers, books he's read, the family and his routine.

When she gets back to Chicago before she goes home, she drops a postcard into the mailbox to let her son know she made it home. It may be weeks before he gets that postcard, but his mother doesn't want him to worry until their next monthly visit.

"He's got enough on his mind, he shouldn't have to worry about me driving home from seeing him."

Ayala spends much of his time writing letters, reading and composing poetry. A former boxer, Ayala also works out in his cell.

When he gets out into the concrete-lined yard, he feeds spiders with insects he finds.

"Once that obligation was taken care of, I walked around a little, and then sat down to enjoy the rain smell in the air," Ayala wrote in a letter to a friend. "Suddenly, a soft rain started falling, so I turned my face up to the sky to feel the soothing rain. It felt wonderful."

Ty Ayala, David Ayala's brother, maintained his brother did everything the department asked to prove he wasn't part of a gang, yet he remains locked up inside Tamms.

"My whole family is there with David. It just brings tears to your eyes when we think about what he is going through," Ty Ayala said. "The U.S. treats Taliban soldiers better than the state of Illinois treats my brother."