Tennessee woman who claimed deputy baptized her after traffic stop found dead

SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. — A woman who filed a lawsuit claiming a sheriff’s deputy baptized her in a lake instead of arresting her, has been found dead in her home.

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Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, on Wednesday, where they found Shandle Marie Riley dead, WRCB reported.

Riley had filed a lawsuit against two deputies in Hamilton County, alleging that during a traffic stop in February 2019, she admitted she had marijuana in the car, and that she allowed one of the deputies to baptize her in his underwear while the other recorded it because the deputy had told her he wouldn’t arrest her if she got baptized, WRCB reported.

In an opinion on April 7, the judge in the case ruled the lawsuit against Jacob Goforth, the deputy who allegedly witnessed the incident, could move forward, The American Bar Association Journal reported.

The lawsuit alleges the other deputy, Daniel Wilkey, touched Riley inappropriately during a search, asked her whether she had been baptized, told Riley that, “God was talking to him,” and said he would only write her a citation if she got baptized, The American Bar Association Journal reported.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case and told WTVC it would wait for the medical examiner to conduct an autopsy before determining whether there was foul play in Riley’s death.

Riley’s attorney, Robin Flores, told WTVC the case against the deputies can still move forward despite Riley’s death because her deposition was done and her testimony preserved.

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