‘Pastor shot me twice’

A witness broke down in tears on Monday while recounting the terrifying ordeal of being shot twice in the back by his late pastor, Dr Kevin Smith, who had assured him that he was immortal and could not die.

The witness, who also testified that Smith emptied two firearm magazines at members of the security forces on October 17, 2021 at Pathways International Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, received permission from Justice Leighton Pusey to remove his shirt in court to show the scars from the ordeal. Last week, the witness told the court that Smith had another member of the congregation stab him in the back. He also used the opportunity, while he was shirtless, to point to the area of his back where he had been stabbed. Monday was the witness’s second day on the stand in the Home Circuit Court murder trial in Kingston of Andre Ruddock, who is accused of killing 39-year-old Taneka Gardner during an alleged human sacrifice ritual at the church on October 17, 2021. Ruddock allegedly acted on the instructions of Pastor Smith, who had asked Gardner if she believed that he could bring her back to life if her throat was cut. Gardner’s throat was subsequently cut, allegedly by Ruddock, after she gave an answer in the affirmative to Smith’s question. The witness had testified that after Gardner’s throat was cut, Smith further instructed Ruddock to cut her head off. It was alleged that while Ruddock was doing as he was instructed, a cow broke loose from a section of the church property and Ruddock’s attention was shifted from Gardner after Smith gave more instructions for the cow to be caught and slaughtered. A member of the church allegedly chased the cow. The witness, Gardner, and Ruddock were members of Smith’s congregation.

Police outside Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries building.in October 2021 the day after an alleged human sacrifice ritual turned deadly.

The witness recalled Smith walking over to him while he was on the ground in agony and stuffing his fingers in his wounds. “I was saying, ‘I am in pain, I am in pain.’ I remember he walked over to me. I don’t remember him speaking but I can remember him pushing his fingers in the wounds in my back. On the compound, there were a lot of individuals sitting on the boardwalk. The persons he [Smith] had called to come in, they were also sitting on the boardwalk. I looked up and I saw my mom sitting there,” the witness said. He also testified that police and soldiers came to the boardwalk. “One of the soldiers was kicking me in my side. He was saying to me that I was shooting at him. I told him I wasn’t doing that, and a police officer came and said to the soldier to ‘Stop, don’t you see that he was shot and cramped?’ “The soldiers started ordering the other [church] members outside, telling them to hold their heads straight. They were very hostile. An ambulance came and the police assisted them to wrap my back. They placed me on a stretcher and brought me through the side gate that was there,” the witness said, explaining that Gardner’s body was still laying on the church compound at that time. “Taneka’s body was there. Blood was there. I was able to see. I was laying face down on the stretcher so I was able to see because the compound was not dark. When I was going through the gate, I saw Andre Ruddock on the ground. He was laying on his side. I also saw Dr Smith on the ground with his hands behind him. There was nothing blocking my view. Kevin Smith was laying face down. Security forces were all over the compound. At the gate there were police and soldiers. I was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital,” he told the court. The witness said Smith was the one who shot him with a firearm he had taken from a member of the church. “There were like three police jeeps on the outside of the premises. They were opposite the gate on the other side. At that time, a police officer was climbing on the fence [to see what was happening]. Mr Smith started to say he was Elijah and he was saying just as Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume the army, he said ‘If I be a prophet of God, I call down fire from heaven to consume these 50. He said it like three times, and he then called out for a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force who was there [as a member of the church]. She came to him and he spoke to her and she spoke back to him,” the witness said. By that time, Gardner was already killed, allegedly by Ruddock.

The scene of the accident on the Linstead Bypass in St Catherine where Pastor Kevin Smith was killed in October 2021. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

The witness, who was asked by lead prosecutor LaToya Bernard to tell the court what happened after the member of the police force spoke to Smith, explained that the pastor used the gun he had received from the member of the church to open fire at the security forces who were outside the compound of the church. “Dr Smith started shooting at the police. At that time I stepped away and went right behind a round column that was there when Dr Smith took the gun from her. I could see him firing the gun from behind the column. He was firing the gun towards the police. I wasn’t observing everything happening on the compound. I was mainly watching him and was wondering if the police were going to shoot back,” the witness told the court. “That was why I was behind the column. When I was looking towards where the police were I could see police bending down. I did not see them return any fire. After that happened, Dr Kevin Smith then called [the police member of the church] to bring an extra magazine [for the gun]. Dr Smith continued to fire. The police did not retaliate. Outside the premises there were members from the congregation out there along with the police. Those members on the outside weren’t running or moving or anything at all. They were just out there,” the witness testified. He said the next thing he remembered after Smith shot at the security forces were loud explosions at the gate where the police shot and killed a member of the church who was following Smith’s instructions to attack them with a knife. After he put his shirt back on, the witness, who had been standing during his testimony, was given an opportunity to sit and compose himself while he cried. “Yes, Mr Kevin Smith shot me. I can remember hearing loud explosions coming from right beside me, where Mr Smith was. I fell to the ground after I felt like I got a hard punch. I remember jumping up back like I was shocked. He looked on me and said to me that, ‘You are immortal and you cannot die’. Yes, that’s what he said. I could see some police officers standing at the top of where a boardwalk was. They were on the premises by this time. “Mr Smith then spoke to Kevaughn Plummer. I can’t recall where Andre Ruddock was at the time when Dr Smith was firing at the police. Dr Smith spoke to Kevaughn Plummer and he ran towards the police to attack them. He had a knife and he ran towards them to attack them. Upon reaching close proximity to the police, I just started seeing fire coming from the police’s gun. I could hear the loud explosions. I saw when Kevaughn Plummer’s body fell to the ground. It happened so quickly. It was just a lot of shots being fired all over the compound. By that time, because of the pain I was feeling, I was laying flat on my belly at that time on the boardwalk. I was hearing a lot of shots. At that time I turned my head and saw him [Dr Smith] sitting in the same place where he was sitting when we first came up the boardwalk. He was sitting and pointing to the sky,” the witness said. Pastor Smith died on October 25, 2021 in a motor vehicle crash on the Linstead bypass in St Catherine while being transported to Kingston to face charges.