MY JUDGE MY JURY MY EXECUTIONER

By Patrick H. Smith

David grew up in a small town in East Texas. He loved the country life and all that it offered. He had a younger brother who at an early age drowned the same year his girlfriend moved away. That was a tough time for him. He joined the marines after high school and became a member of a special ops team. While on a routine mission, his team was attacked and he was injured. His injuries caused him to abuse painkillers and he became addicted to them. He was dishonorably discharged. Since he had lost his dad and mom while in the military, he did not want to return to the town he grew up in, so he went to a neighboring town. Homeless and near broken, he was approached by Father Matt and offered a room at Patrice Place. One day while out walking, he found a wallet. As his luck would have it, he was stopped by an officer initially for walking on the wrong side of the road. After being searched, the wallet was found and as it turned out, it belonged to a doctor who has been murdered. Arrested and convicted, he spent 5 years on death row. After his conviction was overturned, he returned to Tyler where he ran into his old sweetheart. Through all of his trails, David remailed faithful to God and God blessed him for his faithfulness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350957570

Book preview

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

ADRIANNE PATRICE SMITH-WOFFORD

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not

be dismayed, for I am your God. I will

strengthen you and help you; I will uphold

you with my righteous right hand.

                                                  Isaiah 41:10

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Introduction

While the darkness of night helped to hide his tall, medium built, lurking frame, it was the ever-increasing public panic concerning the Covid-19 pandemic that allowed him and many other criminals to hide their faces, therefore hiding their identity while out in public. Wearing dark clothing, he also had a dark colored scarf wrapped around his face, covering his mouth and nose, as well as a dark colored stocking cap pulled down tight on his head, leaving only his eyes exposed.

Immediately after receiving the text message, he left the house he lived in with his mother and made the fifteen-minute drive downtown. He had been leaning against the outside wall of an abandoned barber shop for about an hour, occasionally glancing across the street whenever he heard voices. The popular downtown bar was busy tonight with patrons coming and going. He was just about to light another cigarette when once again he heard voices and looked up. This was it. Who he had been waiting on to come out of the bar was now slowly walking up the sidewalk. He quickly looked around making sure that there was no one else walking around and then he suddenly sprang into action, stalking his victims.

Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old,

                    he will not depart from it.

                                                                                                                Proverbs 22:6

CHAPTER 1

Early Years

Growing up in Cleve, Texas, a small East Texas town, with a population of 1,971 people, just on the outskirts of Tyler, David learned all about faith, family, and hard work during his early years on The Hill, the nickname given to his parent’s farm because it sat up on a hill. The Hill was just off State Hwy 64 on CR 2089, located up a winding dirt driveway and overlooked a small lake. During the winter, when the lake froze over, all the teenage kids within a five-mile radius would meet up at the lake on Saturday mornings to skate on the ice. This went on for years, until one winter it did not get as cold as it had in the past, so the ice did not get as thick as it usually did. That winter while all the kids were ice skating, the ice cracked from their weight and one kid fell through. Luckily, the other kids were able to pull him to safety, but after his parents found out what they had been doing and what had happened, that was the last time any of them went out on the ice again. That was two years ago.

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The oldest of two boys, David’s responsibilities consisted of maintaining a B average in school for his parents to allow him to stay on the football team, helping around the farm and watching out for his little brother. Maintaining a B average was not a problem for David. He was a highly intelligent young man and an attentive student, who excelled very well in math and science – his two favorite subjects. In science class, he liked, as well as looked forward to whenever the class would be given a project where he could combine his knowledge of math and science to produce an impressive project that oftentimes left his teacher and fellow classmates in awe.

Every morning before school, one of his chores was to go out to the hen house and pick eggs. He would always carry a stick with him just in case he saw a chicken snake. Chicken snakes loved getting into the hen house after the eggs and the chicks. He was not afraid of chicken snakes and knew that they were not poisonous, but because their bites did hurt and would sometimes make people sick, he did not want to get bitten by one of them or any other kind of snake for that matter. After collecting the eggs and carrying them back into the house, he would then go back outside and throw feed for the chickens.

David’s younger brother Harold was a sickly child. Born with pneumonia, one of his lungs was filled with pus at birth, causing doctors to have to remove it. Harold also suffered from asthma and was a regular patient in the emergency room. Every time Harold had a bad asthma attack and had to be rushed to the emergency room, David would feel sorry for his little brother and oftentimes when they returned from the hospital, David would let Harold sleep in his room to make him feel better, although he hated the Vick’s Mentholatum smell that their mom would rub on Harold’s chest to help with his breathing. A few years ago, David had taught Harold how to ride a dirt bike and had even made him a track out back in the pasture. Harold really loved his little racetrack with its’ small humps and many curves for several reasons: he had a place to ride his dirt bike and his big brother had made it for him.

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David’s father Harry grew up in the house they now lived in, along with his older sister, Sophie. Shortly after graduating from high school, Sophie moved to New York to pursue a singing career in the Harlem night clubs. Every Christmas Eve, for ten years after her move, she would send Harry a postcard that unfortunately had no return address on it. Harry always wanted to write her back and tell her how much he missed her and how things were going on the farm, but he did not know where to send the letter. That eleventh year after she had moved to New York, Harry did not receive the expected postcard on Christmas Eve. Worried, he would question their parents about her. He desperately wanted to find out where exactly she was and if she was all right, but with her not putting a return address on the envelope, there was nothing he could do. He gave up hearing from her after a couple of years of no postcards, but always hoped that one Christmas Eve, when he ran out to check the mailbox, there would be a postcard in it from her.

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Harry had been working at a poultry plant ever since he returned from the Army and had worked his way up to a forklift supervisor. He was also the pastor of a small church with about fifteen members. David’s mother Gail was born and raised in Tyler and was an only child. When she was four years old, her mother died while giving birth to her baby brother, who also died three hours after being born. Her father remarried two years after the death of her mother and little brother, so she was raised by him and her stepmother. Gail was a stay-at-home mom who loved to cook. She sold freshly made cakes, pies, teacakes and preserves every Sunday after church. She was also the piano player at the church and had a strong spiritual voice. Both David and Harold were active in the