Witness: Cop approached me amid Pathways siege

A policewoman whose gun was allegedly used by now-deceased church leader Kevin Smith to fire at police during a deadly October 2021 service, had reportedly approached a senior officer after members of the security forces arrived at the location and told her that she had “information”.

A detective superintendent of police (DSP) – the fifth prosecution witness in the murder trial of Andre Ruddock – said the woman, who was a member of the church, approached her barefoot at the Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries, with a white garment wrapped around her body and her hands raised.

“She was saying, ‘I have information’,” testified the witness, who was an acting DSP then.

The witness said the woman identified herself as a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), after which she and her commanding officer took the woman aside and listened to what she had to say.

The court did not hear the full details of what the policewoman shared, as the prosecutor told the witness not to repeat it.

However, during cross-examination, the DSP acknowledged telling the woman, “You don’t have to say anything.”

Asked why, she replied: “I did not know who the person was at the time.”

The court also heard that the policewoman told the DSP that she had a gun.

Another witness had previously testified that Smith had summoned the policewoman and instructed her to hand over her firearm, which he allegedly used to fire at the police.

The court also heard that after emptying the first magazine, Smith told the policewoman to bring another one, and she complied.

The DSP was giving evidence in the trial in which Ruddock is accused of the alleged sacrificial killing of church member Taneka Gardner at the Montego Bay-based church, which has since ceased operation.

The witness said she had gone to the location after receiving information about an incident at Lot 141 off Albion Road, St James.

She said that on arriving at the intersection of Earls Drive and Albion Road, she saw JCF and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) personnel running along the roadway and heard gunshots.

The DSP said she exited the service vehicle and walked towards Lot 141, about 70 to 80 metres away, but was forced to take cover after hearing further loud explosions.

Afterwards, she saw people dressed in white standing at the gate and chanting.

The DSP testified that she retreated to the service vehicle and called police emergency for reinforcements.

Additional JCF and JDF personnel arrived, and she briefed them before the JDF tactical team entered Lot 141 after breaching the fencing as the gates we locked.

After the situation had calmed down the witness said the police removed from outside the gate about 40 people who were standing, dressed in white, and chanting, as well as about nine males from inside the premises.

It was while she was with those people at the intersection that the female police officer approached her.

The woman was subsequently placed in a service vehicle.

The DSP said she later entered the property, where she described seeing several people, including injured men and two persons who appeared lifeless.

She said a male was lying behind a pedestrian gate with his feet wrapped in a blood-stained white sheet. This man, she later shared, was identified as Ruddock.

Another male, described as light-skinned and stout, was lying behind a powered driveway gate dressed only in his underpants.

Both men, she recalled, were speaking to each other.

Further inside the property, the witness saw a female dressed in white, lying face down with blood stains on her upper body. She appeared lifeless.

Another male at the top of the driveway also appeared lifeless, while three injured men were seen on a balcony.

The DSP said she called for an ambulance, and the three men were taken to hospital.

She also testified that a government contract funeral home had turned up at the scene to remove the body of the female and the other man.

Accorded to the DSP, she later saw Ruddock at the Montego Bay Police Station in Freeport and asked whether he had any injuries. He told her that his foot was injured and that he could not move it. He also told her that he was a member of the church.

Meanwhile, during cross-examination, Ruddock’s attorney, Venice Brown, questioned the DSP about the gunfire.

The witness agreed that people had been firing at the police, but said she could not see who was responsible.

She also acknowledged that the situation was chaotic and that police personnel had come under heavy fire, adding, “There was a lot of explosions.”

Brown also questioned the DSP about the female JCF member.

The DSP said she did not see the woman with a firearm, although the woman told her that she had one.

The witness will continue today when the trial resume in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston before Justice Leighton Pusey and the seven-member jury.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com