Woman Rewarded for Helping Catch Fugitive

Ashley Smith smiled shyly Thursday as she received $70,000 in rewards from a series of government and law enforcement officials who thanked her for her role in apprehending Brian Gene Nichols, the suspect in a deadly March 11 courthouse shooting.

Surrounded by about 300 dignitaries and onlookers on a grand staircase in Georgia’s Capitol, Smith received checks from the FBI, Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Sheriffs’ Assn., among other sources.

The 26-year-old single mother and former waitress spoke briefly to the public for the first time in more than 10 days. A few feet away, her 5-year-old daughter sat cross-legged on the marble floor.

“I want to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for his love and his grace,” Smith said. “My life is a testament that God can use us even in the midst of tragedy, and miracles do happen.”

Smith left her apartment in Duluth, an Atlanta suburb, to buy cigarettes around 2 a.m. on March 12. When she returned, she says, she was led back into her apartment at gunpoint by Nichols, who police say had shot and killed a judge and two other people at the Fulton County Courthouse and then killed a customs agent in northern Atlanta.

Over the next seven hours, Smith says, she talked to her captor about her troubled life and her faith in God. She read him passages from Rick Warren’s Christian self-help book, “The Purpose-Driven Life.” When Nichols surrendered to police peacefully that morning, Smith’s story quickly took on the form of a religious parable.

“Through the long, frightening hours, she pierced the murderer’s heart,” Perdue said. “Ashley was not alone with Mr. Nichols, because of her faith. There was someone else there with her.”

Presenting Smith with a check for $25,000, U.S. Marshal Richard V. Mecum said that authorities had expected more bloodshed before Nichols was caught.

“We did expect a fight -- we did expect either that or suicide. None of those things occurred. We never counted on Ashley Smith,” he said.

“You are definitely a blessed person and a child of God,” said Washington County Sheriff Thomas Smith of the sheriffs’ association, which awarded her $5,000.

She also received checks for $5,000 from the city of Atlanta; $20,000 from the FBI; $5,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police; and $10,000 from the state of Georgia.

Smith has not had an easy life. Her husband was stabbed to death in a fight nearly four years ago, and since then she has been convicted of drunk driving and has been treated for addiction. Two years ago, she surrendered custody of her daughter to her aunt, saying she was not able to provide a stable home.

As the story unspooled, the public became transfixed by what had reportedly occurred that Saturday morning between two strangers.

“These people weren’t saints,” Andrew Sullivan wrote in a Time magazine essay. “Grace arrives, unannounced, in the lives that least expect or deserve it.”

Smith’s grandfather, Dick Machovec, 74, said he hoped Smith would use the money to finance her education, pay off loans and donate to the church. He said the family planned to hire a financial advisor for her.

Among her new friends is one of her idols. Warren, author of “The Purpose-Driven Life,” has been praying regularly with Smith over the phone, and has pledged to visit Nichols in prison after the Easter weekend.

Last week, Smith quit her job as a waitress at Barnacles Seafood, Oysters and Sports, manager Eddie Subko said.

“She said her attorney advised that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. There’d be too many people coming around thinking she was a celebrity,” Subko said. “We understand totally.”