Tony Spell, a 48-year-old Louisiana pastor, is facing up to eight years in prison after being charged with second-degree battery for a brutal beating of his 20-year-old neighbour on a Baton Rouge roadside. The clash erupted, Spell says, after the younger man allegedly shouted that he would rape the pastor's wife and grandchildren and kill them the next time Spell left town.
The arrest on Tuesday is the latest flashpoint in a years-long feud between the Life Tabernacle Church leader and the victim's father, neighbour Scott Sherwin. Court records show tensions escalated in 2020 when Spell filed a civil lawsuit over surveillance cameras he believed were trained on his movements.
