Author: Jackie Carpenter

This story, based on the actual 2009 murder trial of Richard Jason Veitch, amplifies every mother’s nightmare: an early morning call alerting her to the arrest of her son, who has been charged with felony murder.

Jackie endures front page Sunday newspaper headlines proclaiming “Builder Charged With Felony Murder.” Through preliminary hearings, nine days in a county jail, a $100,000 bond hearing, and a hair-raising arraignment, her son finds himself poised to face trial for three counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm, in addition to the murder rap.

“The following week, I think we were all in a very somber state of mind,” Jackie writes. “It was like being inside a boat on the darkest night, hardly being able to see the water, and trying to find the right direction. The family had become tense with each other. We had no answers for each other, and encouragement was hard to find.”

Of course, all of Jason’s family members believe in his innocence, and when his trial begins the day after Easter Sunday, they brace for Jason’s appearance on the witness stand to testify in his own defense. Opening statements blur into a heart-wrenching parade of witnesses, and as the trial inches on through revealing evidence that Jason had taken the law into his own hands in an effort to protect his property, a mother’s faith silently goes on an unseen trial juxtaposed with the real life interrogations unfolding hourly in the court. Tension builds toward the jury’s final verdict.

Throughout millennia, The Psalms have given inspiration to uncountable multitudes. The uplifting verses upon which Jackie Carpenter leans, and which are referred to in the title of her book are:

 1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
   from the fowler’s snare
   and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
   nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
   nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked.

 9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
   and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,
   no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation.”

The Bridge: Between Cell Block A and a Miracle is Psalm 91 is simply written report of the trial and outcome that spans a brief 117 pages, making for a pure and straight forward accounting of the facts as they played out in newspaper headlines and in daily, live testimonies. Many readers will find the tale of one family’s unswerving faith truly inspirational. The book can be obtained in a hard cover, paperback, or a Kindle book edition.

Georgia Justice “Journey to Faith,” a sequel of sorts that picks up the thread of Jason’s journey by way of a brief account of his mother’s faith throughout his ordeal, exposes how taking on assaults from Satan can only be won through unswerving convictions, prayer, and strength found through scriptures. The book can also be obtained in a hard cover, paperback, or a Kindle book edition.