Grace Horse

Grace Horse chronicles Damien Chapman’s journey of repentance, forgiveness, and restoration as he discovers his true identity in the darkness of prison life. In that darkness, he also finds new life in an unexpected place. Damien courageously shares his painful path from the streets of New York City to homelessness, to the murder of his mother. Amid the ruins of unimaginable devastation, Damien was arrested at fifteen years old and soon after sentenced to life imprisonment in an adult prison. In Grace Horse, Damien discusses his experience in the Georgia state prison system and reveals what is seldom known or discussed about the plight of children growing up immersed in the brutality of life in an adult prison. But he also shares his triumphant story of redemption and proves that miracles do happen—for anyone! Throughout Damien's story, Leisa Johnson intertwines stark facts illustrating just how broken our current system is, despite the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), which held that mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles was unconstitutional. Being the brilliant legal mind that she is, Leisa does not just assert her opinion on the state of our criminal justice system, she directs the reader to the research that supports her conclusion that treating juveniles as adults in our criminal justice system is ineffective and inhumane. This book presents an unforgettable, transformative story of hope and resilience, while also sounding yet another clarion call for a change in the American legal system’s treatment of children.