In 2010, Florida boxer Yathomas Riley was arrested after his then-girlfriend, Koketia King, was shot in the head inside his Miami apartment.Riley clai
In 2010, Florida boxer Yathomas Riley was arrested after his then-girlfriend, Koketia King, was shot in the head inside his Miami apartment.
Riley claimed it was self-inflicted. King survived the shooting but maintained that Riley had shot her during an argument.
Riley faced attempted murder and child abuse charges — including allegations that he’d sexually abused King’s teenage daughter.
However, those charges were dropped after the case grew complicated, partly because of lack of cooperation and credibility challenges that often arise in domestic violence cases.
💔 Enter Lisa Marie Riley
After that case, Riley began a relationship with Lisa Marie Riley, who would later become his wife.
Lisa bailed him out of jail after the 2010 shooting and publicly defended him, saying she believed he was innocent and that the other woman (Koketia King) had lied about the abuse and shooting.
Lisa’s belief in him became part of his redemption narrative — at least in public. Riley resumed his boxing career and presented himself as having been “wrongly accused.”
But five years later, in 2015, Lisa Marie Riley was found dead in their Georgia home. Riley was later convicted of her murder.
🚨 What This Case Shows
Lisa tried to save him — not just legally, but emotionally and publicly. She believed she was standing by an innocent man.
But like many women before her, she believed his story instead of the warning signs left behind by another woman’s pain. (She is not the first person to think this way and sadly, will not be the last)
The woman who defended him sadly became his next victim. You’d think he would have more gratitude but……that is not how this works when abusive people do not get extensive, deep, and long-term help to see the wrong in their behavior. Second chances become opportunities to do worse.
🕊️ The Hard Truth
This case sits at dangerous intersections we talk about here:
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How women are conditioned to “see the good” in dangerous men.
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How we’re taught to distrust other women’s warnings.
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How male violence often escalates when early victims are silenced, discredited, or ignored.
Lisa’s tragedy is a brutal reminder:
When one woman’s story is doubted, the danger doesn’t disappear — it transfers.
📍 The Tragedy
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On the morning of July 9, 2015, Lisa Marie Riley was found unresponsive at her home in Lee County, Georgia. Justia Law+3AJC+3The Cauldron+3
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A gunshot wound to her head was determined to be the cause of death. AJC+1
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The couple’s infant son was present at the home at the time of the incident. Justia Law+1
🧭 Sorrow and Lessons
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Lisa’s death is not just a statistic. It reflects a pattern in which earlier warnings and abusive behavior (by Riley) were not fully acted on, and a protected space (marriage, family) became the setting for lethal violence.
- Survivors’ voices and instincts are valid, urgent, non-optional. They can be life-saving.
Lisa’s tragedy is a brutal reminder:
When one woman’s story is doubted, the danger doesn’t disappear — it transfers.
I have always wished that abusive people cared about other people the way other people care about them, but they do not. They do not. And they will kill us dead if we try to make them.
May Lisa Marie Riley rest in peace. The mother of the man who murdered her mourns her deeply and publicly stated that she wished that it had been him and not her because she was sweet, had much to live for, and was the mother of her then toddler grandchild (who he left alone overnight who slept beside mom in her blood). By many accounts, Lisa had a big heart.
I also Koketia King continued healing, growth, and restoration. We hear you. We are listening. We are learning.