William "Baby Billy" Freeman was an American Pentecostal evangelist who served as Pastor of the Locust Grove campus of the Gemstone Salvation Center, which was run by his brother-in-law Eli Gemstone.
Biography[]
William Freeman was born in Freeman's Gap, North Carolina, the brother of Aimee-Leigh Freeman. The two siblings became gospel singers, performing for large crowds in events such as the Sing for Joy Concert Tour, during which they sang for Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia. His sister went on to marry the televangelist Eli Gemstone, from whom Freeman eventually became estranged due to Eli's disapproval of Baby Billy's wild and immature antics and Baby Billy's jealousy at his sister's success. Freeman continued to live at the old family home near Ravenel for years, and he later married a much younger woman named Tiffany. In 2019, his brother-in-law invited him to become the pastor of the Locust Grove campus of the Gemstone Salvation Center in South Carolina, and Freeman reluctantly accepted the position, despite the campus being located inside a former Sears store in a shopping mall. He continued to have a rivalry with Gemstone, and the rivalry escalated after Baby Billy criticized his brother-in-law for breaking a window of the Locust Grove First Baptist Church to spite Pastor John Wesley Seasons. While Freeman decided to quit after Gemstone accused him of being a con-man, he changed his mind when a group of masked and armed vandals arrived at the Locust Grove campus at night to destroy the church; Freeman and his wife were in the church at the same time to move their belongings out. Freeman and his wife were soon confronted by the masked men, but Eli Gemstone arrived, having intended to apologize to Baby Billy. Eli forced the masked men to unmask themselves and get naked, having identified them as Seasons' men. He then sent them running through the mall naked, embarrassing them and sending a message to Seasons. Freeman was then welcomed back as the church's pastor, as Gemstone needed a man he could trust to run the Locust Grove campus. However, Freeman continued to have a secret grudge against Eli, convincing his rebellious daughter Judy Gemstone to perform alongside him at his church services. While Eli was initially angry at Billy for his plot with Judy, he came to be proud of Judy after her dancing reminded him of his late wife. However, when Eli decided to invite Baby Billy and Judy to perform the collection song at the church's Easter Sunday celebration, Baby Billy realized that Eli was again winning, so he decided not to show up and also told Judy that she had no talent. He and Tiffany again packed up their belongings and attempted to leave town in their car, but they were slammed into by Scotty Steele's van; Steele was killed in the collision, while Baby Billy and Tiffany found millions of dollars of the church's money in Steele's van and looted it. They decided to flee back to Freeman's Gap with the money, but the Gemstones discovered Baby Billy's theft when they found his Jesus statuette at the van's wreck site. They headed to Freeman's Gap to confront Baby Billy amidst a thunderstorm, and, as Baby Billy attempted to fight off the Gemstones with a pitchfork, lightning struck the pitchfork and electrocuted Freeman. As Freeman was temporarily dead, he claimed to have a vision of his late sister, who he claimed asked him to forgive Eli for his past offenses. When Billy recovered, he forgave Eli and decided to return the lost money to him. He went on to become known as "the electrical preacher", priding himself on his experience and selling handmade drawings of his experience.
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