HOSTAGE SURVIVOR ASHLEY SMITH-ROBINSON 20 YEARS LATER From Terror to Joy

IN THE THROES OF ADDICTION, A YOUNG GEORGIA MOM MANAGED TO PERSUADE SHOOTING SPREE KILLER BRIAN NICHOLS TO TURN HIMSELF IN. HOW SHE BUILT A LIFE OF PEACE AND PURPOSE

- By JOHNNY DODD

Sitting in her car on a recent muggy morning outside a childcare center in North Augusta, S.C., Ashley Smith-Robinson can't help but marvel at the “pretty normal” path her life has taken over the past two decades. “I’m grateful for where I am now,” the 49-year-old says while waiting to pick up her 11-month-old grandson Cash. “It’s been better than I could have ever imagined or deserve.”

It was March 2005 when the world was first introduced to Ashley after she was taken hostage in her apartment by an accused rapist who had escaped from law enforcement and gunned down four people. Over the course of seven hours, Ashley—who’d lost custody of her daughter Paige while struggling to kick drugs and get her life back on track—used her deep Christian faith and the determination to see her little girl to pull off what was widely seen as a miracle: She talked 33-year-old Brian Nichols into releasing her and turning himself in, likely saving countless other lives.

The nightmare proved pivotal for Ashley. Not only did she author the 2005 memoir Unlikely Angel and become the focus of the 2015 film