Police arrest husband, stepdaughter in murder of woman they said was killed by panhandler in Baltimore

The Baltimore Police Department seal.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Texas State Police on Sunday arrested the husband and stepdaughter of Jacquelyn Smith, a Baltimore woman who was killed in December. At the time of her death, her husband, Keith Smith, said she had been stabbed by a panhandler who asked her for money while they were driving.

Keith Smith, 52, and Valeria Smith, 28, were arrested in Harlingen, near the Mexican border, acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said. They were attempting to flee the country, hours after warrants charging the pair with first-degree murder were issued. "The information and evidence points it wasn't a panhandler," Harrison said. "People take advantage of Baltimore. We want to make sure the truth comes out and justice is done."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.