The trial had dragged on for months. When the final verdict was read, the last holdout on the jury voted guilty. Bruce Davis stood in silence as the judge’s words landed like a hammer: life in prison. His mind flooded with memories of the violence, drugs, and deception that had brought him to this moment.
Bruce’s journey began decades earlier in a broken home marked by his father’s drunken rages and his mother’s helplessness. Feeling rejected and unloved, he ran away to California in search of fulfillment through possessions, relationships, and drugs. LSD opened the door to what he later described as “a dark spiritual presence—an angel of light” that drew him deeper into rebellion.
In 1968, Bruce met Charles Manson and joined what became known as the Manson Family. For the first time, he felt a sense of belonging—love, respect, and identity. But that illusion ended in tragedy. The group’s violent crimes left a trail of destruction that would haunt him for life. Despite fleeing from justice, Bruce couldn’t outrun God. In December 1970, he turned himself in and began serving his sentence.
Four years into his imprisonment at Folsom Prison, Bruce experienced a moment that changed everything. “You will never get high again,” the thought came, firm and unshakable. As he looked out over the prison yard, he realized that the same death covering the yard was also in his own soul. Desperate for hope, Bruce picked up a book—The Late Great Planet Earth. Reading about biblical prophecy and salvation through Jesus Christ, he offered a defiant prayer: “If You can do anything with me, go ahead. ”The next morning, peace filled his heart. He had been born again.
From that day forward, Bruce’s life began to transform. The addictions that once controlled him lost their power. Shame gave way to forgiveness. He devoted himself to reading the Bible, leading worship, and teaching others about the freedom he had found in Christ. The man once known for destruction had become a vessel of hope.
Today, Bruce continues to serve the remainder of his sentence at San Quentin State Prison, one of the most well-known correctional facilities in America. Yet this place of confinement has become a stage for God’s mercy and revival.Earlier this year, God Behind Bars hosted a powerful revival event inside San Quentin, where dozens of men surrendered their lives to Jesus and were baptized. Bruce watched as the same grace that changed him decades earlier washed over inmates just like him.
“It’s incredible to see God’s mercy reach into a place like this,” Bruce says. “If He can change me, He can change anyone.”
Bruce now shares his story with a simple question:“Do you have God’s peace?”
He encourages others to:
“His love is greater than your past, and His power can change everything.”
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” – Proverbs 16:25
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