Baltimore Police Husband, stepdaughter arrested in death of woman they initially said was killed by panhandler in Baltimore

The husband and step daughter of the woman that was allegedly killed by a “ panhandler” has been arrested in connection with the death. The two were arrested while trying to leave the country.Keith Smith and Shavon Smithare charged with first-degree murder.

Smith, 54, an electrical engineer at Aberdeen Proving Ground, was stabbed to death at North Valley and East Chase streets about 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 1, according to police.Her husband, Keith Smith, and his daughter Shavon appeared at a tearful news conference at the scene, just days after the stabbing, blaming it on a man who had approached after she had reached out the window to hand money to a woman allegedly begging in the rain. They said the man had come up to the car under the guise of thanking Jacquelyn Smith for her generosity, then reached into the car and snatched her necklace and pocketbook, stabbing her in the process.

“Like everyone in our city, state and across this nation, we mourned the senseless killing of Jacquelyn Smith. To now learn that family members staged this brutal killing is beyond belief and represents a double tragedy,” Mayor Catherine Pugh said in a statement Sunday. “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,” she said. The case made national headlines and public figures such as Oprah Winfrey began to express concern about giving panhandlers money after this incident