Husband, stepdaughter arrested in murder of Jacquelyn Smith after her husband said she was stabbed when she rolled down her car window to give money to beggars

The husband and stepdaughter of a Good Samaritan who was stabbed to death in East Baltimore in December have been arrested for their involvement in her murder.

When Jacquelyn Smith, 54, an electrical engineer at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, was stabbed in the chest at about 12:30 a.m. on Dec 1, 2018, her husband Keith Smith told police it happened after she rolled down her car window to give money to 2 panhandlers (read here).

Keith Smith said he and his wife were leaving a birthday celebration for his daughter Shavon Smith, when Jacquelyn Smith spotted a woman holding what appeared to be a baby and a homemade sign in the freezing rain.

The sign read: “Please help me feed my baby.”

Smith said he hesitated to pull over, but his wife insisted she wanted to help the young mom.

He told ABC News at the time:

It was drizzling, it was cold, wet and my wife, like any normal person, felt sorry for the baby, which turned out not to even be a baby. It must have been like a stuffed animal or something wrapped in a blanket. From where we were, it looked like a baby and we thought it was a baby.

He said after his wife handed the woman a $10 bill, a man approached the car, produced a knife and stabbed Smith.

But sceptics were immediately suspicious of Keith’s story as it changed each time he repeated it to news outlets.

Baltimore Police arrested Keith Smith and his daughter Shavon Smith as they were trying to flee the country. 

Police announced the arrests during a news conference on Sunday evening. According to Interim Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. They were both charged with first-degree murder.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh issued a statement on the killing. The statement shared to Twitter reads:

Like everyone in our city, state and across this nation, we mourned the senseless killing of Jacquelyn Smith. To now learn that fault members stated this brutal killing is beyond belief and represents a double tragedy.

They were responsible for taking Jacquelyn’s life with unconscionable cruelty and contrived to do so in our city under the guise of random violence, exploiting the legitimate fears of our residents.

I commend our homicide detectives for their expert and tireless work in bringing those truly responsible to justice in this very troubling and sad case.