A witness of the 2021 murder of 39-year-old Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries church in Montego Bay, St James, told a seven-member jury on Thursday during the murder trial of Andre Ruddock that he believed that Pastor Kevin Smith had powers to bring Gardner back to life.

The trial officially got underway on Thursday following the selection of the jury on Wednesday.

Gardner wasn’t the only one to die during the incident at the church. A man identified as Michael Brown, another member of the church, was also found dead on the premises.

However, Ruddock reportedly confessed only to Gardner’s murder.

The witness confirmed that on Sunday, October 17, 2021, the day of the incident, Ruddock was prompted by Smith to cut Gardner’s throat and remove her head from her body.

Ruddock allegedly took up the mantle, after another member of the church hesitated when given the instructions to cut Gardner’s throat.

According to the witness, the killing evoked no frightening reaction from anyone who was present during the incident.

“There were persons inside the church who saw. No one was reacting. Everyone was just behaving normal. I was there and, in my mind, I honestly thought Dr Kevin Smith would have been able to bring her back to life,” the witness said.

The witness testified that he started attending the church in 2014 and at that time he met and became familiar with Ruddock.

“Andre Ruddock was a security guard or a bodyguard to Dr Kevin Smith. We had church services four times a week
— Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday evening and Friday evening. I would attend all the services and yes, I saw Mr Ruddock when I attended those services.

“He is there all the time. We had a friendly interaction. We normally run jokes. I called him names like Hercules. My brother-in-law and I would run jokes about a young lady who was madly in love with him. My son was always interested in animals and Mr Ruddock raised exotic birds where he was living at King Street at the time in St James. He also raised different types of rabbits as well. We purchased an animal from him for my son,” the witness told the attentive jurors.

He said that Smith was the sole leader and overseer of the church.

According to him, his role at the church was that of an assistant to Smith.

Before that witness took the stand, Gardner’s father, who was the first witness to be called, shared with the court that he was responsible for identifying her body at the morgue and at the time of her autopsy.

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.

Ruddock is represented by attorneys Anthony Williams and Venice Brown.

Latoya Bernard and Carolyn Wright represent the Crown.

Justice Leighton Pusey is the trial judge.

The trial resumes Monday.