My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King

My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (2000) by Reymundo Sanchez is an autobiographical account of the author’s turbulent adolescence and early adulthood as a member of Chicago’s notorious Latin Kings gang. Writing under a pseudonym, Sanchez draws on his firsthand experiences to expose the brutal realities of gang life, including systemic failures, extreme poverty, and cycles of violence. The memoir explores ideas related to identity, belonging, and trauma. In the Preface, Sanchez describes the book as both a cautionary tale and a critique of the societal structures that perpetuate violence and disenfranchisement. 

This guide refers to the 2000 Chicago Review Press paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of graphic violence and murder, rape, child sexual abuse, trauma, emotional abuse, physical abuse, substance use and addiction, and the deaths of children. The book also contains multiple racial slurs and depicts people with racist and sexist attitudes. 

Summary

My Bloody Life opens with Reymundo Sanchez describing his tumultuous childhood in Puerto Rico. At the time that he was born, his mother was a teenager, and his father was a 74-year-old; he died when Sanchez was five. His mother quickly remarried, and Sanchez’s new stepfather Emilio was abusive. Sanchez was also raped by a cousin. These early traumas fractured Sanchez’s sense of security and trust, pushing him into emotional isolation.

After his family moved to Chicago, Sanchez faced further neglect from his mother, and Emilio abandoned the family. His mother then married Pedro, a lottery dealer whose son, Hector, was a drug dealer. Urban life initially fascinated Sanchez, but the chaos of his home environment forced him to seek belonging elsewhere. He befriended local boys and became intrigued by the gang lifestyle, drawn to its perceived power and unity. Meanwhile, Pedro became physically abusive, and the violence at home escalated, fueling Sanchez’s resentment. 

At school, Sanchez befriended Papo, a gang member who introduced him to the gang called the Spanish Lords. Seeking escape, Sanchez embraced substance use and began associating with the gang. His immersion into gang culture deepened as he witnessed deadly shootouts and accidental killings. 

Meanwhile, Sanchez’s family moved back to Puerto Rico, forcing him to go with them. There, Pedro’s control and abuse intensified, leading to daily altercations between him and Sanchez. To put a stop to the tensions, Sanchez’s mother sent Sanchez back to Chicago to live with Hector. He returned to a chaotic environment in Chicago, surrounded by drug dealers and people with drug addictions. Sanchez cemented his ties to the Spanish Lords and participated in escalating conflicts. Systemic oppression and neglect compounded Sanchez’s struggles. Encounters with police brutality and the lack of meaningful interventions from schools or community organizations deepened his loyalty to the gang, which was like a surrogate family to him. However, during a confrontation, Sanchez betrayed his fear and his reluctance to engage in violence. As a result, the gang rejected him. Isolated and fearful, he contemplated his precarious future in the violent streets. 

Sanchez developed a friendship with a female gang member named Morena. She manipulated him into committing his first murder, which was a turning point in his life. Although he felt morally conflicted about taking a human life, the act won him acceptance and accolades from other gang members, and they welcomed him back into the fold. After this point, Sanchez descended deeper into crime and violence, killing rival gang members, committing armed robberies, and selling heroin for Hector. A rival gang beat Sanchez severely, as a result of which he was hospitalized. He vowed revenge and later killed and injured members of the rival gang. His aggression earned him the respect of the gang known as the Latin Kings, who pressured him to formally join their ranks. Sanchez agreed. They held a violent initiation ceremony during which he endured a beating from other gang members. Afterward, he adopted the name “King Lil Loco” and became a Latin King member. 

Sanchez’s romantic and sexual relationships mirrored the dysfunction of his environment. His first sexual partner was an older woman named Maria, and Sanchez reflects that their relationship introduced confusion about intimacy. He shared an affectionate relationship with his first girlfriend, Jenny, but she pressured him to behave aggressively and violently, in line with the expectations of gang culture; when she found that Sanchez initially did not meet these expectations, she cheated on him with another gang member. Sanchez had a long-standing crush on his classmate Rosie, who went on to betray him and plotted to have him killed. Eventually, Sanchez sexually assaulted a girl named Blanca, which he acknowledges as rape, highlighting the violence and toxic masculinity fostered by his environment. 

Sanchez’s life continued to spiral downward as he became deeply entrenched in gang activities. He participated in retaliatory attacks, including vandalizing rival gang murals and violent confrontations with opposing gangs over territory. As the gang wars escalated, he began to feel disillusioned and distressed. His involvement in these conflicts also left him physically scarred. Sanchez’s young friend Juni, who was not a gang member, was shot and killed as a result of associating with Sanchez, which left Sanchez feeling guilty and angry. Morena, too, died as a result of gang violence.

Sanchez began to take small steps that pointed to the emergence of moral clarity. For instance, he saved a 10-year-old from being killed by his fellow gang members, which led to Sanchez enduring a beating as punishment. This also forced him to reflect on the futility of his loyalty to the gang and its values. He met a girl named Cindy and listed all his violent deeds in an attempt to impress her; however, she harshly critiqued the gang lifestyle. Though upset, Sanchez began to see the truth of her words. 

Eventually, after some time in prison for his involvement in a gang altercation and surviving a near-fatal overdose, Sanchez distanced himself from gang culture, focusing on his education and a new job at a university. He reconnected with Cindy, who encouraged this new life path. Sanchez decided to formally quit the Latin Kings; the gang leader agreed but insisted on a three-minute physical beating, which Sanchez endured to reclaim his independence. This act marked his rejection of the cycles of violence and loyalty that once defined him. As Sanchez was walking away from his old neighborhood, he heard gunshots and witnessed the shooting of a young boy, who was the son of his friend and former lover, a drug dealer named Loca. Sanchez was tempted to avenge this death, but he ultimately chose not to continue the cycle of violence.