Slain blood drinker sought Smith's protection, cops believe
Published:Tuesday | November 2, 2021 | 12:11 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
Twenty-six-year-old Kevin 'Big Dog' Grant, who was recently captured on tape drinking blood from the head of a freshly slaughtered goat, was shot dead at a rented apartment in Discovery Bay, St Ann, on Sunday.
Grant was reportedly cut down by armed men about 10:45 p.m., shortly after returning from an illegally staged dance.
The man, who was of a Richmond Hill address in Bikersteth, St James, and also of the Portland Road apartment in Discovery Bay, was pronounced dead at hospital after unknown assailants barged in and shot him multiple times.
A police source in St Ann told The Gleaner that they have reason to believe that Grant was a major player in the lottery scam.
The blood-drinking ritual is common among scammers, who believe that it offers them protection from harm, help them to elude the police, and make them more successful in fleecing money from unsuspecting victims.
Investigators also believe that Grant had paid a huge sum in seeking spiritual protection from the late Kevin O. Smith, who headed the St James-based Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries, where two persons were murdered in a ritual last month and a third shot dead after reportedly attacking the security forces as they brought an end to the proceedings.
Smith died last week in a motor vehicle accident as he was being transported to Kingston from St James to be charged with murder.
"Grant is not the only person linked to the lottery scamming who is said to have been paying Pastor Kevin Smith for protection," the police source told The Gleaner. "There are other lottery scammers who we have learned were paying him millions of dollars for protection."