A pastor held in connection to suspected human sacrifices was killed in a police car crash on his way to be charged

• A pastor detained over suspected human sacrifices died in a police car crash, the police said.

• Kevin Smith described himself as a prophet and was said to have made his congregants kneel for him.

• His church was thought to have engaged in ritual killings as well as a shootout with the police.

A pastor in Jamaica who was accused of being involved in human sacrifices died in a police car crash, the local police said Monday.

Kevin Smith, the leader of Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries, died while being transported from Montego Bay to Kingston to face charges connected to suspected ritual killings, the local news outlet Jamaica Observer reported.

The police were said to be moving Smith and another suspect in two cars, one of which overturned - killing Smith and a police officer while seriously injuring two more officers, a police representative told the Observer.

The representative, Stephanie Lindsay, the senior superintendent of police, said authorities still weren't sure exactly what happened.

"One vehicle was the pilot, and the other vehicle was behind," she said. "The vehicle that was behind, based on the account given by the pilot vehicle, there was a crashing sound, and they realized that the vehicle overturned."

Killing rituals, shootouts, and prophetic claims

Smith's death is the latest in a recent string of violent and dramatic events surrounding Pathways International.

On October 17, the police arrived at the organization's Montego Bay church after receiving reports from a member saying she had been stabbed as part of a ritual, per the news outlet Jamaica Loop.

A deadly shootout ensued and one man was fatally shot, Jamaica Loop reported, citing authorities.

The police later entered the church building and found two bodies, per Jamaica Loop - a man with gunshot wounds and a woman whose throat had been slashed. They also found a wounded man who said he was stabbed and shot in connection to a ritual.

A camera was in the room, but it's unclear whether it was used to record the killings, Jamaica Loop reported.

The Observer interviewed an unnamed woman - identified as a church member - who said she'd witnessed the woman's throat being slashed.

"It was very intense," the woman said. "When I saw blood and the young lady fell, I said: 'This is it for me.'" She said she and several other church members fled the area after witnessing the violence.

The police arrested 42 members of the congregation, including Smith, though most were later released.

The detained pastor was later seen in a widely circulated video talking to police officers, who laughed at his religious claims.

"I am the fountain of life," he said in the clip, adding: "I came as Jonah the warner, but they mocked and they scoffed at me. They surrounded me and looked at me and said, 'Who is this man?'"

A pamphlet for Pathways International addressed Smith as "former crown Ambassador of the Throne of Nubia Sheba, globe traveler to over 100 countries worldwide and Yeshu'a Hamashiach end time Prophet to the Nations," according to The Daily Beast.

A source told The Daily Beast he made his congregants call him "Crown Bishop" and kneel before him whenever they spoke with him.

Members of the church said they were shocked by the murder claims, describing Pathways International as "a regular church," per the Observer. Soon after Smith's arrest, congregants set up a GoFundMe page for his legal fees, calling Smith "His Excellency Kevin Smith 999," though it now appears to have been taken down.

Even after official confirmation of Smith's death, some of them told the Observer they thought he's still alive.

"I do not believe anything the media publish about him, not even that he is dead," one member told the news outlet.

"But if he is, he didn't die in that car accident," she said. "He was dead before."

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