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Woman Who Claimed Cops Forced Baptism on Her Is Found Dead in Home

Shandelle Riley claimed the cops gave her an ultimatum: get baptized or face arrest.

A Tennessee woman who sued two former cops for baptizing her instead of arresting her was found dead on Wednesday, according to WTVC. The body of Shandelle Riley, 42, was found in a home in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, though police said they could not disclose how she died until an autopsy was completed. Riley sued Hamilton County deputies Daniel Wilkey and Jacob Goforth in 2019 after she said the two coerced her into a baptized her after a traffic stop. Goforth admitted the two performed the religious ceremony, though claimed it was Riley who asked for it due to her history with drugs. A judge was not convinced, arguing in a filing last week that “no government interest is furthered by the baptism of a detainee by an on-duty law-enforcement officer.”