“There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.”                                                                 Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

March 12, 2005, 2 a.m. – Bridge Water Apartments, Duluth, Georgia: Ashley Smith made a quick trip to the 7-Eleven to get a pack of cigarettes. When she returned to her apartment, in the parking lot she noticed a man sitting in his pickup truck staring at her. He made her uneasy. When she approached the door to her apartment, he grabbed her, waved a gun in her face, and forced her inside.

Smith wondered, could he be the killer that her stepfather had called to warn her about yesterday? Was he the one she saw on the news who murdered four people in a shooting spree in downtown Atlanta?

The previous day, Brian Nichols was scheduled to stand trial at the Fulton County Courthouse for rape. On the way to the courtroom, the 33-year-old prisoner overpowered a deputy and took her pistol. He killed Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau in the courtroom, then shot and killed Fulton County deputy Hoyt Teasley on his way out of the building. Later in the day, Nichols also killed federal agent David Wilhelm in a Buckhead neighborhood and took his truck and gun. A massive manhunt was underway.

 Tired of her drug and alcohol abuse, Ashley Smith’s parents had thrown her out of their house following her high school graduation. Since then, the 26-year-old drug addict had been in jail multiple times for DUI, possession of drugs, and shoplifting. Her husband, Mack, had died in her arms after being stabbed outside a bar. Smith’s five-year-old daughter, Paige, was now living with her aunt after Smith lost custody due to her drug usage.

Once inside the apartment, Nichols forced Smith into the bathtub and secured her hands and feet with masking tape and an extension cord. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he told her, “But if the police come, I’m gonna hold you hostage, then kill you, kill them, and kill myself.” Smith tried to be brave, but the tears came. “Please don’t kill me,” she pleaded, “My daughter Paige already lost her daddy; she can’t lose her mama, too.”

After an hour, Nichols untied Smith. She calmed down, and a supernatural peace came over her. Recently, she had been going to church, having a daily devotion, and trying to get her life straightened out. She was determined to quit drugs so she could get Paige back.

Curious, she asked Nichols, “How did you pick my apartment? Maybe it’s not an accident that you chose me. Maybe God brought you here for a reason? Do you believe in miracles?” Nichols nodded his head that he did. Smith told Nichols her story.

She told him that she was scheduled to see Paige the next morning at 10 a.m. in Atlanta, and it was important to her to see her daughter. It had been two weeks since she had seen her.

At 4 a.m., Smith remembered that she had not done her daily devotional. She was proud that she had not missed a day in more than a month. Smith was using Rick Warren’s bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life as her devotion.

Smith asked Nichols if she could read the devotional. He said “OK” and sat down on the bed beside her while she got Warren’s book and her Bible. She was on Day 32, “Using What God Gave You.” Nichols asked her to read it to him.

At the end of the devotion, he asked, “What do you think I should do?” Smith was bold in her response: “You killed some people. You should ask God to forgive you, and He will. He forgave me for all the bad things I’ve done. But you will have to pay for what you did. You should turn yourself in.” Nichols looked at the ceiling and asked for God to forgive him.

At 9:30 a.m., Nichols released Smith to go see Paige. He gave her back her cell phone and $40 and told her to tell Paige hello for him. Smith drove around the corner and called 911. Nichols, waiting to be arrested, watched on CNN as an FBI SWAT team surrounded the apartment. He waived his white t-shirt and surrendered.

Today, Brian Nichols remains in the Georgia State Prison in Butts County, serving consecutive life terms with no chance of parole. Ashley Smith remarried, has three children, and works as a hospital X-ray technician. She is drug-free and stays in touch with the Nichols family. “I’d probably be dead from drug usage if not for my chance encounter with Brian Nichols in 2005,” Ashley recalls. “God used that experience to change my life.”