Ring ritual blamed for marriage collapse

Nickiesha Palmer, the estranged wife of Apostle David Palmer, has alleged that the defining rupture in the relationship began when fellow church leader, Apostle Kerriann Johnson allegedly interfered with his wedding ring.

According to Nickiesha, 36, the alleged episode unfolded while David, 31, was ministering at Johnson’s His Majesty’s Sanctuary Deliverance Ministry in Old Harbour, St Catherine. She claimed that Kerriann, 45, removed his wedding band mid-service and declared that the ring carried a curse, before proceeding to pray over it to remove a bad spirit.

"From she took his ring off his finger, that’s when our marriage started to crumble," Nickiesha said, stressing that she believes the relationship never recovered from that incident.

The Palmers say their marriage has been irretrievably broken down. Adding to the drama is the fact that David is now in a relationship with Johnson, who claimed she tried her best to keep him and Nickiesha together. 

In an interview with this newspaper last week, Kerriann insisted that she played a central role in trying to preserve Palmer’s marriage, insisting the relationship only developed after his union collapsed. She said that she prayed for Palmer and his wife and mediated disputes between them in an attempt at reconciliation.

“I did my best,” Kerriann said, adding that she went above and beyond to help save Palmer's marriage and maintained a cordial relationship with his wife at the time.

Nickiesha, however, views the situation differently and has repeatedly accused Kerriann of exerting undue spiritual influence over her husband. Nickiesha has suggested that the ring incident was not symbolic but decisive, describing it as the moment boundaries were crossed and trust within the marriage began to collapse.

“Kerriann is the reason for the demise of the marriage,” Nickiesha said.  

However, Keriann has denied invoking any dark forces to break up the marriage. She has admitted handing David’s ring, but said that was for “deliverance” purposes.

“I was doing a deliverance on David and I did remove his ring and it burnt my hand,” Johnson said.  

“When the ring burnt my hand, that, in the spiritual world, meant that something was wrong in David’s life, but I didn’t say anything at all. I just continued with the deliverance. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to hear that I was trying to mash up anyone’s marriage,” the clergywoman explained.

Nickiesha and David first met June 2022. He reportedly told her that he had received a divine message that she would become his wife. She said their relationship developed quickly, with frequent communication and growing affection.

“I started to like him because he was handsome and he had good ways. We started talking day and night,” she said.

But after about a year of marriage, the relationship got rocky. David had started to attend Kerriann’s church and they had struck up a good friendship.  Nickiesha said they tried working on their marital problems and admitted that Kerriann was assisting. 

“We were having issues and I called the marriage quits, and family members encouraged me to work on it. I called Kerriann and told her I needed her to speak to him, and it was the biggest mistake that.”

She recalled growing tension during the marriage, including instances where Keriann was communicating with David even during significant personal milestones.

“We go on we first anniversary in Panama, and every minute Kerriann calls,” she added. “Suh if she wanted we marriage to work, whe she a call him fah?” Nickiesha fumed.

Kerriann, however, told THE STAR, that the calls were being made by David, and they were all church-related.

“When David was in Panama on vacation, we were not dating or anything of that sort. The only time we communicated was when he would call to check on the church activities, like the fasting and so on,” Kerriann said.

Despite the drama surrounding the relationship with David, Kerriann is looking forward to a future with him. 

“We are dating, but we haven’t had sexual intercourse; but after we get married we will. As soon as the divorce paper sign, yes, we gonna get married,” she said.

As for Nickiesha, she has concluded that the relationship with David has deteriorated beyond repair. In fact, she says she has no interest in reconciliation and has already made arrangements regarding divorce proceedings.

“If David wanted the divorce, I offered him a chance to sign the paper before he left the US and he did not. Even when he gets back to Jamaica, I told him I would email him the papers. I don’t want him back,” she said.