Ashley Smith Biography

Ashley Smith, by her own admission, is neither an angel nor a hero. Nonetheless, her visage is recognized throughout the globe as the single mother who persuaded Atlanta's courtroom killer, Brian Nichols, to surrender to authorities. Ashley was referred to by Nichols as an angel sent from God, but it was her less-than-angelic history that allowed her to persuade him to face punishment. Elizabeth Ashley Copeland Smith was born in Augusta, Georgia, to a God-fearing, sports-loving family on August 1, 1978. Ashley's parents separated when she was a baby, and she spent most of her childhood with her mother's extended family, particularly her grandpa and aunt, both of whom worked at Augusta Christian, the private school Ashley attended until eighth grade. Mack Smith, whom she began seeing at a young age, and with whom she became pregnant after less than a year of dating. Paige was born prematurely, weighing less than 3 pounds, only two months after the couple married. Ashley was desperate to keep her family together despite their tumultuous marriage. Things were starting to calm down until Mack bumped into his old group, exchanged a few hurtful words, and was tragically murdered by individuals he had previously considered friends. Ashley readily granted her Aunt Kim temporary custody of Paige after Mack's murder. Paige was now a healthy three-and-a-half-year-old. Her desire to be a mother to her kid was strong, but her methamphetamine addiction kept drawing her away from her goals. God continued to beckon Ashley, but she constantly put Him on wait as she dabbled in temptation. After a fatal rampage at Atlanta's Fulton County Courthouse on March 11, 2005, Brian Nichols pushed his way into her apartment and altered everything. He requested marijuana. She handed him her final stash of meth—the substance that had brought her life to a halt—without thinking it through. Following several miracles, she was able to speak with Nichols about God's plan for their meeting. Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life was one of her few belongings. ”Using What God Gave You,” she was in chapter 32. She read from this chapter during her seven hours as Nichols' prisoner and urged him to contemplate how he may be able to serve God if he surrendered, which he did the next morning. Ashley thinks that God guided her through her dark hours with Nichols and that she has been asked to utilize the highly publicized event to assist unexpected angels all around the world find hope. Ashley is now back in active worship at The Church at Greenbrier, participates in weekly Bible study, and lives with her daughter Paige. She's returned to her extended, sports-obsessed family and is on a promotional tour for Unlikely Angel-The Untold Story of Atlanta's Hostage Hero, which opened at #15 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Some of the revenues from the book will be donated to a memorial fund for the victims of the courtroom tragedy, as she requested.

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