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Ashley Smith, 27, still remembers the day she received a copy of pastor Rick Warren's bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life.
She'd walked in late to her aunt's church in Augusta, Georgia. A struggling widow, Christian, and drug addict, Ashley had released custody of her five-year-old daughter, Paige, to her aunt, Kim Rogers, and was there for a visit.
The church was distributing The Purpose-Driven Life, and people could take one even if they didn't have money, Ashley remembers. She looked in her wallet and found a dollar bill—the same dollar she'd used to roll and snort crystal methamphetamine, her latest drug of choice. Ashley placed the dollar bill in the offering plate. For years she'd wanted to come clean, so she picked up the book on her way out and started using it as a daily devotional in an attempt to get her life back on track.
A month later, Ashley made headlines around the world for using The Purpose-Driven Life to help calm Brian Nichols, the alleged Atlanta courthouse killer who murdered four people, including a judge. Nichols held Ashley hostage for seven hours before miraculously letting her go. Ashley was hailed a hero as television news cameras broadcasted Nichols being led away from her apartment in handcuffs.
What everyone didn't know at the time, however, was that Ashley felt like the last person in the world who should be so celebrated. In recent years, she'd been arrested for shoplifting and driving under the influence, witnessed the brutal murder of her husband, lost custody of her daughter, and still struggled with a serious drug addiction that started in high school.
Yet somehow, as Ashley discovered that night, God still was willing to use her for good. And in the process, Ashley found her life would never be the same.
A Moment of TruthOn March 11, 2004, Brian Nichols, a prisoner on trial for rape, killed four people at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, then escaped and randomly made his way to Ashley's apartment complex in nearby Duluth, looking for a place to hide. Ashley had been up late unpacking boxes in her new apartment and left at 2 A.M. to purchase cigarettes at a nearby gas station. Upon her return, she became Nichols' target.
"I was standing in the doorway with a gun pointed at my head, being forced into my apartment with the door locked behind me, thinking, I'm going to die. Why am I going to die?" she says.
Once Ashley realized Nichols' identity, she repeatedly pleaded with him to not hurt her for her daughter Paige's sake. "My little girl doesn't have a daddy, and if you kill me, she won't have a mommy either," she cried to him.
Ashley slowly earned Nichols' trust by revealing her painful past. She'd become pregnant at 20 and gave birth to a premature, two-pound baby girl. She and her boyfriend, Mack (who later became her husband), ran wild—partying on the weekends, drinking and dabbling in drugs. Both spent time in jail for driving under the influence. Then, when Ashley was 23, Mack became involved in a brawl and was stabbed right in front of her. He died in her arms.
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