‘Dancing with Jesus’: Pastor Charged With Manslaughter After Grandfather of 7 Dies During Kiddie Pool Baptism

A pastor in the United Kingdom is facing charges after a man died while getting baptized in a kiddie pool.

Cheryl Bartley, 48, has been charged with one count of gross negligence manslaughter in her role in the baptism, the Crown Prosecution Service told the Telegraph. Bartley is the pastor for the Life Changing Ministries Church.

The livestreamed ceremony for 61-year-old Robert Smith of Brixton, London, took place in October 2023. He was a grandfather of seven children.

At one point, the stream suddenly cuts out as Smith was being baptized in a kids’ paddling pool house in Birmingham.

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The Telegraph reports that by the time emergency services arrived, Smith was dead. West Midlands Police told the New York Post the official cause of death has been ruled as a drowning.

Smith is said to have wanted to be baptized for a second time to become a “born-again believer.” The Telegraph reports he also suffered from Parkinson’s.

The pastor later recorded a video about the death, claiming she saw Smith in heaven, “dancing with Jesus,” according to the Telegraph.

Life Changing Ministries describes itself as an Apostolic Church. On its YouTube channel, the organization also describes itself as “a ministry that will change your life for the better spiritual and physical by the power of the holy spirit, healing and deliverance will definitely take place, you will experience the presence of God that will bring peace, joy, strength, healing, deliverance, hope, open heaven in Jesus’s name.”

It appears the church mostly conducts activity online, advertising to followers in the U.K. and Jamaica.

Smith, who lived in the UK for 25 years, is originally from Jamaica. He also worked as a barber.

If sentenced, Bartley faces up to 18 years in prison. She is expected to appear in a Birmingham magistrates’ court on May 14.

“We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are active and that she has the right to a fair trial,” Malcolm McHaffie, the head of the CPS’s special crime division, told the Telegraph.

“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”