A man who is serving at least 15 years in a Sydney jail after pleading guilty to killing four children while driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol has turned to Christianity.
His new found faith was revealed by Danny Abdallah, the father of three of the young victims.
Antony (13), Angelina (12) and Sienna (8) Abdallah and their cousin Veronique Sakr (11) were walking along a footpath to buy ice cream at Oatlands in Sydney’s West when they were hit by a ute driven by Samuel Davidson in February 2020.
The Daily Mail reports Mr. Abdallah told a Christian Lives Matter podcast with its founder Charlie Bakhos this week that Mr. Davidson wants to become a Maronite Catholic like he and his wife Leila because of the forgiveness they showed him, just days after the tragedy.
Danny Abdallah heard about the jailhouse conversion through his spiritual advisor Father Robert-Pio who has met Mr. Davidson in prison. The priest revealed the 33-year-old former truck driver “prays the rosaries three times a day, he goes to mass, he’s doing Bible study and he’s done his first confession. He wants to become a Maronite Catholic. ”
Mr. Davidson reportedly told Father Robert: “The whole world should have hated me, but because of Danny and Leila’s forgiveness I was able to see life in a different way.” He kept telling the priest how sorry he is and what he’s done was wrong, but forgiveness is what’s changed his heart.
The Daily Mail reports Leila Abdallah returned to the crash scene two days after losing her children. She held hands and prayed a rosary with loved ones, before publicly forgiving the driver who killed her children. “I can’t hate him. I don’t want to see him, but I don’t hate him. I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair. I’m not going to hate him, because that’s not who we are,” she said at the time.
Danny Abdallah also revealed on Christian Lives Matter that he and his wife had also spoken with Mr. Davidson’s parents. “He’s got a mother that’s grieving and is going through her pain. We wanted to understand and show them that look we’re in pain, and they apologised about their son’s actions. I know they lost their daughter with cancer and then years later they’d lost their son now in prison and they’ve got no one. They know what we’re going through and they acknowledge that, and we have to acknowledge their sorrow and pain as well.’
