Donnie Andrews, the Real-Life Omar Little, Dies at 58
By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK
Published: December 14, 2012
Donnie Andrews, a reformed stickup man whose story inspired the character Omar Little on the acclaimed HBO drama “The Wire,” died late Thursday or early Friday in Manhattan. He was 58.
Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
Donnie Andrews
He died of complications during emergency heart surgery, said Michael Millemann, one of his lawyers. He lived in Baltimore County, Md.
Mr. Andrews was known for drug dealing and audacious robberies in West Baltimore in the 1970s and early ’80s. In September 1986, he agreed to kill a drug dealer for a rival to support his heroin habit. It was his first murder.
“My gun jammed,” Mr. Andrews told The New York Times in 2007. “So the guy was lying on the ground, and it gave him a chance to look me in the eye, and he said, ‘Why?’ ”
Mr. Andrews killed the man but was haunted by his question. Months later, he turned himself in to Edward Burns, a Baltimore homicide detective. In 1987, he was sentenced to life in prison.
But Mr. Andrews’s story was far from over. He kept in touch with Detective Burns, and through him met David Simon, a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon went on to write the book “The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood,” an intimate account of a city devastated by drugs and violence. It was adapted for an Emmy-winning HBO mini-series that paved the way for “The Wire,” which sprawled from the grimy streets to the halls of government in Baltimore.
Drawn from Mr. Andrews’s life, the character Omar Little was a thief who terrorized drug dealers. Mr. Andrews also wrote for the show and appeared as one of Omar’s allies.
Omar died without remorse, but Mr. Andrews sought redemption. He helped the government bring down a drug gang, provided information for murder investigations and counseled drug addicts in prison.
He also helped addicts on the outside. One, introduced to him by Mr. Simon, was a troubled woman named Fran Boyd who became a focus of “The Corner.” Mr. Andrews called Ms. Boyd daily, and she took the calls regardless of her circumstances.
“She’s smart, and I knew she could get herself straight,” Mr. Andrews said in 2007. “So I kept pushing, and then I got hooked on her.”
Mr. Andrews left prison in 2005 after Ms. Boyd, Mr. Simon, Mr. Burns and even Charles P. Scheeler, the federal prosecutor in his case, lobbied for his release. Mr. Andrews and Ms. Boyd married on Aug. 11, 2007.
Larry Donnell Andrews was born in Baltimore on April 29, 1954. He earned his high school equivalency diploma in prison.
Besides Ms. Boyd, his survivors include a stepson, De’Rodd Hearns; the three children of Ms. Boyd’s sister, whom she and Mr. Andrews raised; and four stepgrandchildren. Ms. Boyd’s son DeAndre McCullough, who was also featured in “The Corner,” died of a drug overdose in August.
In his life after prison, Mr. Andrews worked odd jobs and counseled gang members and others at risk of street violence. He helped found a nonprofit group to spread his message in Baltimore.
He named it Why Murder?, after his only victim’s last word.
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