Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Police: Md. family staged attack that gripped nation
Husband pinned wife’s Dec. slaying on a panhandler
The details from a fatal stabbing in Baltimore were already tragic when they emerged in December.
Jacquelyn Smith, 54, had been driving with her family in the city when they encountered a woman holding what appeared to be a bundled infant and a cardboard sign reading, “Please help me feed my baby,” according to police. It was just past midnight. In the darkness, Smith allegedly began an act of kindness, not knowing it would end her life.
The Washington Post reported: “Smith, who was in the front passenger seat, rolled down her window to give the woman money. Police said a man then approached the vehicle, thanked the family and reached in to grab Smith’s wallet. A struggle occurred, and the man stabbed Smith in the chest before running away with the woman who had held the sign.”
Smith’s husband, Keith, called 911 to report the stabbing; he also rushed Smith to a hospital, where she later died, police said.
At the time, detectives urged the public to be on the lookout for the panhandling woman and the male companion who had allegedly stabbed Smith. The killing appeared to be random, another crime in a city struggling with an increase in homicides.
Smith’s family members said they were devastated. “I’m dealing with this one day at a time,” Keith Smith told The Baltimore Sun about two weeks after his wife’s death. “That’s the only way I can deal with it.”
On Sunday, however — three months after the stabbing — Baltimore police revealed the case had taken a more sinister turn: Smith’s husband and stepdaughter had been arrested. The story about the panhandler appeared to have been concocted to cover up a premeditated murder, police said.
“The information and the evidence points to: It was not a panhandler,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said Sunday night. “The circumstances were very different. People took advantage of Baltimore. We want to make sure the truth comes out and justice is done.”
Keith Smith, 52, and his daughter, Valeria Smith, 28, were arrested Sunday in Harlingen, Texas, near the border with Mexico, and have been charged with first-degree murder, he said.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Harrison said he couldn’t go into detail about what led detectives to suspect the two. However, he noted that there was evidence that Keith Smith attempted to leave Maryland during the investigation.
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh called the latest development “very troubling and sad.”
The stabbing, which occurred Dec. 1, made national headlines, in part because people were horrified that Smith had seemingly been killed while trying to help a woman and her baby. Oprah Winfrey tweeted about the case, saying it had prompted her to reconsider donating to panhandlers.
“This story struck my heart. I’ve done this a 1k times,” Winfrey wrote. “But will think twice before ever doing again. To (Jacquelyn Smith’s) family I hope her death gets people ‘woke’ to change!”