God Saved Me from Death Row: The Other Side of the Story, Twenty Years Later!

By Stephanie King

I remember sitting in a criminal justice class in a University. I was presented by one of my professors with Jose Albert Garcia's case. I wondered what had ever happened to Jose, and why nobody had ever done a book, if films about his case were done already. I wanted to pass on the message of how powerful God is. Here was a 17-year old boy on death row, days away from being executed and God miraculously saved him. It just was not Jose's time to go, and God still wants him alive. He has a certain plan for him that only He knows. There is a reason why Jose is still alive today. This case proved that no man, society, money, judge or political power can beat God's divine forces, will, or power. If God wants you alive, you will remain alive. This book took two years in the making, one year to gain Jose's trust and the other in the actual gathering of information from Jose Alberto Garcia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453579442

Stephanie King

Alvin Allen earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from South Carolina State University and a master’s degree in educational technology from Webster University. He is currently pursuing an educational specialist degree in technology leadership. He is cofounder of iLegacy Educational Consultant Company, which specializes in building a foundation of excellence in the classroom. He has been a teacher in the field of education for over ten years. Most of his field experiences have been in the middle-school grades. He has taught at inner-city schools for the majority of his professional career. Throughout his teaching career, he has created an atmosphere where students can grow academically and personally. This book is based on some of his former students’ experiences and his own personal growth as an educator. He used the strategies presented in this book to enhance his classroom instruction and engage his students. He believes one key element to teaching is creating a bond with students. If a bond is created, the students will allow the teacher to give them an unlimited wealth of knowledge. Two of the key quotes he uses in his classroom are “Hard work is the key to success” and “Thinking outside the box is essential to growth and achievement.” Stephanie King possesses an array of qualities that have allowed her to become successful in and out of the classroom. Stephanie has been teaching in the public school arena for over eleven years. Her areas of expertise include working with a variety of exceptional conditions within the special education sector. Her passion to lead and teach children with disabilities has led her to become the CEO of her own consulting firm, which is entitled Believers Educational Services. BES’s educational philosophy is that all children, regardless of physical and mental challenges, can learn. Stephanie continues to be recognized within her schools, as well as on a national level. In 2010 she was selected for Who’s Who among Teachers. She has served in many leadership capacities, including serving as department chair for her discipline and lead teacher for the Special Education Department at a local alternative school within the state of South Carolina. Stephanie’s passion for teaching goes above and beyond standing in front of a class. It continues to flourish each year, and she continues to embrace her calling to impact lives daily.

Book preview

Contents

Intro

Dialogue between Author and Jose Alberto Garcia

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Conclusion

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Miguel Angel Martinez, all victims of crimes, all the innocent who have been executed, in prison, or are on death row, and most importantly to all the believers in God and followers of Christ. Thank you Lord for showing us your Divine power by Jose Alberto Garcia’s example that your will should be followed and not of man, by allowing Jose Albert to continue to live until this day.

Intro

I remember sitting in a criminal justice class in a University. I was presented by one of my professors with Jose Albert Garcia’s case. I wondered what had ever happened to Jose, and why nobody had ever done a book, if films about his case were done already. I wanted to pass on the message of how powerful God is. Here was a 17-year-old boy on death row, days away from being executed and God miraculously saved him. It just was not Jose’s time to go, and God still wants him alive. He has a certain plan for him that only He knows. There is a reason why Jose is still alive today. This case proves that no man, society, money, judge or political power can beat God’s divine forces, will, or power. If God wants you alive, you will remain alive. This book took two years in the making, one year to gain Jose’s trust and the other in the actual gathering of information from Jose Alberto Garcia.

Dialogue between Author and Jose Alberto Garcia

AUTHOR:    What went wrong 18-19 years ago with you?

GARCIA        What went wrong those 18+ years ago? With me? There’s so many answers to this and none are simple or comprehensive, not to explain why things happened so that it makes sense. On so many levels, things went wrong or were wrong that circumstances controlled me, and I never had the control of my life. I thought I did. But in a way, that is one of the fundamental factors that was wrong with me. I was a very inexperienced, insecure and weak kid who believed and thought he knew more that he did, and was in control of his life and future. I was a kid, stupid of his life and future. I was a kid, stupid and ignorant. What every kid is, and though not every kid gets caught up in the same set of circumstances I did, yet putting kids with similar emotional and psychological backgrounds in the same circumstances as me, would probably result in similar reactions.

Chapter 1

BEFORE PRISON: CHILDHOOD

TO TEENAGER

Jose Alberto Garcia was born in Roma, Texas, on August 6, 1973. Jose Alberto believes his mom said he was born late at night, near enough to almost have been born on the seventh. He was raised in Roma, although for the first couple of years, Jose deems he lived in Guerrero, since that is where his family was living. Jose Alberto has seen photos of those times and remembers bits and pieces of living in Guerrero. I grew up without ever knowing my father; it wasn’t until I was 22 or 23 that I found out why he was never a part of my life, says Jose Alberto. It is the way I was conceived that I admire my mother even more for still keeping me and still loving me, even after what my real father did to her. Until Jose was 11 years old, he lived with his grandmother, and after that, his mother moved him and his siblings to a housing authority project. Jose has one brother who is 3 years younger than he is, and one sister who is 7 years younger than Jose is. Jose Alberto says he attended two elementary schools, well technically three. From kindergarten through 4th grade, Jose attended Saltillo Elementary. Jose says he has mostly good memories of those years. I even remember some of my teachers’ names: Mrs. Garza (1st grade), Mrs. Castillo and Mrs. Hernandez (3rd), and Mrs. Elizondo (4th), says Jose Alberto. Jose learned to love reading at Saltillo, and remembers the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were his favorites. Jose states, In 5th grade, all of us from Saltillo were bussed to the Holding Academy by Santa Martha, which was named Trujillo Annex. Jose only stayed a short while; it may have been just a couple of weeks before he was taken to Newsome Elementary to be part of the Apollo program. It was a gifted and talented program, and only two of us got on the same bus to go there, a younger girl and me, stated Jose. Jose Alberto was in all the Apollo classes except Math. I hated my time at Newsome. I remember calling my uncle so often to go pick me up because I was sick, but I just really didn’t want to go to class, stated Jose Alberto. And when I didn’t, I remember skipping class and just sitting outside, on the other side of the underground bunker section, said Jose Alberto. Although, Jose said there were some memorable things, such as being a hall patrol, with a little belt and badge.

Jose remembers a girl who liked him, and who actually he was scared of, because she had a deep and loud voice. Jose remembers an event his school had where they showed him and his peers how to put on fake mustaches. After that, Jose went to Ron Clark Middle for 6th grade, Texas Intermediate for 7th grade, the old high school campus for 8th grade, and Texas High for grades 9-12. Jose had the last year of open campus for T.I.S.D. when he was in 7th and he enjoyed it. Jose Alberto skipped class and drank beer for the first time with a group of kids. These were new friends and Jose said he was part of the gang rivalry back then between the Central and South (neighborhood areas). Jose Alberto had his first few fights. He remembers the shelter explosion happened that year, and he watched it on television in his French class. The meaning of the space shuttle, we saw when it exploded and the teacher was going up. Jose saw that girl from 5th grade who had liked him and now Jose liked her. Jose saw her very changed and now he had no chance with her. She was going out with the older