Daddy, father, prophet

A witness on Tuesday testified that the late Pathways International Restoration Ministries’ Pastor Kevin Smith was so revered by his flock that some called him “Daddy”, while others addressed him as “Father”, “Dr Smith” or “Prophet of the Nation”. The witness is the second to have taken the stand since last week in the Home Circuit Court trial of Andre Ruddock, who was said to have been Smith’s bodyguard. Ruddock is being tried for murder in relation to the October 17, 2021 sacrificial-type killing of 39-year-old Taneka Gardner whose throat was cut at the church, allegedly on the instructions of Smith, after Gardner confirmed to the pastor that she believed he could bring her back to life. The witness claimed that Ruddock rushed to Gardner and carried out the pastor’s orders after another member of the church hesitated.

Two men were also killed at the church on the night, one by the police and another allegedly by Smith, who watched him bleed out and subsequently requested that his body be placed inside a fowl coop. During cross-examination by Anthony Williams, one of two attorneys representing Ruddock, the witness was asked whether Smith told the congregation to call him by several names. “Correct,” the witness, who was shot twice in the back by Smith on the night of the incident, told the court. “He titled himself ‘Prophet of the Nation’,” the witness added. “Were you a junior minister in training? ” Williams asked the witness, who confirmed to the attorney that Smith designated him as such. Asked if he accepted that designation by Smith, the witness said, “Yes, I did”, but could not explain what his exact duties were. “I didn’t have any special duties. I would assist occasionally to get him ready, I would sheer his head and I would bring his Bible to the pulpit,” he…