Larry Donnell "Donnie" Andrews (April 29, 1954 – December 13, 2012) was an American

armed robber Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, murderer, and anti-crime advocate. He was one of the inspirations for the character

Omar Little Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by Michael K. Williams. He is a notorious Baltimore stick-up man, who frequently robs street-level drug dealers. He is legendary around Baltimore for hi ...

on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

''.

Early life

Andrews grew up in a

housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...

in West

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He was physically abused by his mother. At the age of 9, he witnessed a man being beaten to death over 15 cents.

Life of crime

Andrews became an

who robbed drug dealers, but his code of ethics included never involving women nor children. He was known to police for armed robbery and drug dealing in the 1970s and early 1980s in Baltimore. In 1986, local

drug kingpin A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...

Warren Boardley convinced Andrews (who needed to support his

heroin addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

) and

Reggie Gross Reginald R. Gross (born January 1962) is an American convicted murderer and former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1988. His most notable wins were a first round knockout of future long-time IBF world Light-Heavyweight champion "Pri ...

to take on the

contract killing Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

of Zachary Roach and Rodney "Touche" Young. Filled with guilt, Andrews surrendered himself to

Ed Burns Edward P. Burns (born January 29, 1946) is an American screenwriter, novelist, and producer. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. For HBO, they have collaborated on ''The Corner,'' ''The Wire,'' ''Generation Kill'', ''The Pl ...

, a

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

with the

Baltimore Police Department The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Dating back to 1784, the BPD, consisting of 2,935 employees in 2020, is organized into nine districts covering of land and of waterway ...

. Working with Burns, he agreed to wear a

covert listening device A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and ...

, which he used to implicate Boardley and Gross in the killings. In 1987, Andrews was sentenced to life in prison for the two murders. He was denied parole on his first attempts, but continued to study, ended his addiction to heroin, and helped other inmates by running an anti-

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

workshop. While Andrews was in prison, Detective Burns introduced him to

Fran Boyd Denise Francine Boyd Andrews (October 15, 1956 – May 3, 2022) was an American drug counsellor and actress. Early life Boyd was born on October 15, 1956, in Baltimore, Maryland. Career Her story was chronicled in ''The Corner: A Year in t ...

, whose family was prominently featured in '' The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood'', a 1997 book by Burns and

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...

. Andrews and Boyd's first conversation came in January 1993, when Boyd was still using drugs. Andrews encouraged Boyd to get clean. Andrews was paroled from prison in 2005.

''The Wire''

By 1998, Burns and Simon, as well as the lead prosecutor who obtained Andrews' conviction, began to lobby for Andrews' release from prison. While Andrews was in prison, Simon sent him copies of the newspaper, and Andrews gave Simon information about crimes taking place in Baltimore. Simon named Andrews a consultant on ''The Wire'', an HBO show about

crime in Baltimore The American city of Baltimore, Maryland, is notorious for its crime rate, which ranks well above the national average. Violent crime spiked in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015, which touched off riots and an increase in mu ...

which ran from 2002 to 2008. Simon used Andrews as one of the inspirations for the character Omar Little, a stickup artist who never targeted innocent bystanders. Andrews was released from prison in 2005. He performed youth outreach after his release from prison. His foundation, Why Murder?, attempted to steer children away from a life of crime. He portrayed

Donnie Donnie or Donny is a familiar form (hypocorism) of the masculine given name Donald, Donal, Don, or Donovan. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Donny Baldwin, American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and Stars ...

on ''The Wire'', an associate of Omar and his advisor

Butchie Butchie is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by S. Robert Morgan. A blind man, he runs an East-Side Baltimore bar, and is Omar Little's bank and advisor. Like his character, actor S. Robert Morgan is blind; he ...

Personal life

Andrews and Fran Boyd married on August 11, 2007. Wedding guests included Simon and ''The Wire'' cast members

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (2014–2019), t ...

Sonja Sohn Sonja Denise Plack (' Williams; born May 9, 1964), known professionally as Sonja Sohn, is an American actress, activist and filmmaker, best known for portraying Baltimore detective Kima Greggs in the HBO drama ''The Wire'' (2002–2008). She is ...

, and

Andre Royo Andre Royo (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins on the HBO crime drama series ''The Wire'', and his appearances on ''Fringe'', ''Party Down'', ''How to Make I ...

. Andrews suffered from an

aortic dissection Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart. In most cases, this is associated with a sudden onset of severe chest or ...

, from which he died on December 13, 2012 in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was 58 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Donnie 1954 births 2012 deaths People from Baltimore The Wire American people convicted of murder American activists