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

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."

Police originally said that Jacquelyn Smith, 54, had been stabbed shortly after midnight on Dec. 1. Days later, her husband and stepdaughter appeared at a press conference, saying after Jacquelyn Smith handed money to a female panhandler in the rain, a man came up to the car, reached in the window, and stabbed her, stealing her necklace and purse.

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Jacquelyn Smith's brother, Marcel Trisvan, and other relatives were skeptical of this story, Trisvan told The Baltimore Sun. "All the questioning has been specific to Keith," he said. "That kind of sums it right there. It never made sense. I told [detectives] from the very beginning there are no suspects out there."