After a grandpa of seven drowned at a home baptism, a UK preacher was accused of manslaughter and she allegedly recorded a video saying she saw him “dancing with Jesus.”
Based on the Telegraph, Cheryl Bartley, 48, was live-streaming a ceremony in October 2023 for Robert Smith, 61, on the Facebook page of her Life Changing Ministries.
According to the report, Smith, a born-again Christian with Parkinson’s illness, was being baptized in a children’s paddling pool at the Birmingham home when the stream abruptly stopped.
Emergency services were called, but the grandfather of seven was already dead. A post-mortem revealed he died from drowning, West Midlands Police said when announcing charges Wednesday.
After the death, the pastor made a film about it, saying that she saw Smith in heaven, “dancing with Jesus,” according to the Telegraph.
She has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter — an offense which carries a sentence ranging between 1 and 18 years on average in the UK — and is set to appear in a Birmingham magistrates court on May 14.
Smith had spent 25 years living in the UK, but his birthplace was Jamaica. He was a barber in Brixton, London, according to the Guardian.