Andre Ruddock’s Murder Trial Hears Evidence From Pathways Church Siege

A jury in Andre Ruddock’s murder trial watched video of him calmly telling detectives he cut Taneka Gardner’s throat at Pathways International Restoration Kingdom Ministries in St James, saying he was acting on instructions from his pastor, Kevin Smith. Prosecutors then led evidence on how police handled the recorded statement and electronic items from the church, while a pathologist confirmed Gardner died from a throat slash.

A detective constable denied in the Home Circuit Court that he pointed his service pistol at murder accused Andre Ruddock or assaulted him while questioning him after the killing of church member Gardner at Pathways International in 2021. The denial comes as the court continues hearing evidence about Ruddock’s alleged confession, which is central to the murder trial.

A Kingston judge ruled that caution and question-and-answer statements allegedly made by murder accused Andre Ruddock can be used as evidence, allowing his trial to continue. Ruddock is said to have admitted slashing Taneka Gardner’s throat at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in St James on Kevin Smith’s orders. Jurors will next hear video of the interview.

Andre Ruddock told police in a video-recorded statement that he was guilty of killing fellow church member Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in St James, saying it was “something I shouldn’t have done.” He said he acted on an instruction from Pastor Kevin Smith, making the recording key evidence in the Home Circuit Court murder trial.

A Kingston court is hearing a private voir dire to decide whether key documents, including an alleged statement by Andre Ruddock, can be used in the murder trial over the 2021 Pathways church killings in St James. The ruling could significantly affect the prosecution’s case in the death of Taneka Gardner and the wider events tied to the church.

The Pathways murder trial is on hold while Justice Leighton Pusey decides whether to admit a caution statement in which accused Andre Ruddock allegedly confessed to killing Taneka Gardner. The voir dire is being held without the jury and could shape the prosecution’s case in the October 2021 killings at the St James church compound.

Andre Ruddock allegedly confessed in court that he killed 39-year-old Taneka Gardner during a sacrificial ritual at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in St James, telling police, “Mi cut har neck.” The testimony is central to the murder trial of Ruddock and highlights the wider case involving the deaths of Gardner and Michael Brown, plus the fatal shooting of Kevon Plummer.

A detective constable testified in the Home Circuit Court that Andre Ruddock confessed to killing Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, saying he cut her throat on instructions linked to pastor Kevin Smith. The case is significant because it centres on a alleged ritual killing at the church and Ruddock’s role in the 2021 death.

A detective constable testified in the Home Circuit Court that murder accused Andre Ruddock confessed to killing Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, in October 2021. The witness said Ruddock admitted cutting her throat on instructions, a key development in the trial over the alleged church ritual killing that has drawn regional attention.

A detective sergeant finished cross-examination in the Andre Ruddock murder trial in Kingston, where he is accused in the 2021 killing of Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James. Defence questioning focused on a female police constable linked to the church, her private Glock, and whether she should have been referred for internal police investigation. The trial continues today with a new witness, and jurors are expected to view photos of the church scene.

A police detective broke down in tears while describing the bloody scene at Pathways International Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, as she testified in Andre Ruddock’s murder trial at the Home Circuit Court. She said three bodies were found, including Taneka Gardner’s, and told the court an injured man said Ruddock cut Gardner’s throat on Pastor Kevin Smith’s instructions. The evidence is central to the trial over the 2021 church killings.

A detective sergeant told the Home Circuit Court that she was informed Andre Ruddock was instructed by church leader Kevin Smith to cut Taneka Gardner’s throat during the 2021 Pathways church attack in Montego Bay, despite defence challenges to her statement. She also described recovering a Glock and other items, and gave emotional evidence about the killings.

A detective superintendent testified in the murder trial of Andre Ruddock that a female police officer, believed to be a Pathways church member, approached her at the St James church compound on the day Kevin Smith’s service turned deadly and said she had information and a gun. The witness also described arriving to gunfire, seeing injured and apparently lifeless people inside, and coordinating police and JDF reinforcements as the court hears details of the chaotic 2021 incident.

Two defence lawyers continued representing murder accused Andre Ruddock in his part-heard trial on Monday, saying they had their client’s written permission to do so despite a wider legal protest over Jamaica’s firearms law. The case concerns the 2021 killing of Taneka Gardner at Kevin Smith’s Pathways church in St James, where a police sergeant described a chaotic, violent scene as the trial continued.

A police sergeant testified that he shot a knife-wielding man at Pathways International Restoration Ministries in Albion, St James, after the man ran toward officers shouting death threats and refused orders to disarm. The evidence is part of Andre Ruddock’s murder trial over Taneka Gardner’s 2021 killing at the church, which remains linked to allegations of a ritual killing and church leaders’ instructions to attack police.

A police constable told the court that Kevin Smith allegedly ordered church members to kill police if they tried to enter Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in Montego Bay on October 17, 2021, as officers heard gunshots and found bodies on the compound. The testimony came in the murder trial of Andre Ruddock, who is accused of killing Taneka Gardner during a supposed sacrificial ritual that left three people dead.

A police constable testified in Andre Ruddock’s murder trial that officers responding to reports at Pathways International church in St James heard a voice ordering people to “kill the police” if they entered the property. He also said officers saw a body partly covered with a white sheet before gunfire broke out and the scene was breached by police and soldiers. The evidence is part of the case over the 2021 killing of Taneka Gardner during an alleged ritual linked to pastor Kevin Smith.

In the Home Circuit Court, defence lawyer Anthony Williams accused the prosecution’s key witness in the Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries murder case of lying to police about the killing of Taneka Gardner. The witness, a former junior minister, stood by his account that Andre Ruddock cut Gardner’s throat after instructions from Kevin Smith, while disputing parts of his written statements.

In the Home Circuit Court, Andre Ruddock’s lawyer argued that a witness accusing him of killing Taneka Gardner at Pathways International Restoration Ministries had a grudge and was lying. The witness said pastor Kevin Smith ordered the killing, but Williams suggested Smith, not Ruddock, cut Gardner’s throat and challenged inconsistencies between the witness’s police statement and court testimony.