Crime

Father and Daughter Await Extradition in Murder of Jacquelyn Smith

THE AFRO — The alleged murder of a woman known as a “good samaritan,” by a panhandler shocked many in Baltimore.

Published

6 years ago

March 6, 2019

By Michelle Richardson

The alleged murder of a woman known as a “good samaritan,” by a panhandler shocked many in Baltimore, a city sometimes numb to violence. This week, in a gruesome real-life plot twist that woman’s husband and stepdaughter have been charged in her murder.

Originally, Keith Smith, 52, of Aberdeen and Valeria Smith, 28, of Baltimore told the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), his wife Jacquelyn Anne Smith, 54, was stabbed by a panhandler after she rolled down her window in a blighted East Baltimore neighborhood in December to give money to a man and woman who claimed they were trying to feed their baby.

For several weeks, waves of outrage rippled from Baltimore across the nation; even media titan Oprah Winfrey weighed in on the killing in December when she tweeted, “This story struck my heart. I’ve done this 1k times. But will think twice before ever doing again. To J.S. family I hope her death gets people “woke to change!”” wrote Winfrey.

In the aftermath of his wife’s alleged murder, Keith Smith and his daughter Valeria made emotional public pleas for information that would lead to the capture of the killer of their loved one; they made the round on local news stations, flyers were made and distributed throughout neighborhoods.

But, on March 3 BPD announced they charged Smith and his daughter with the murder of Jacquelyn Smith.

The father and daughter duo were caught by Texas State Troopers trying to escape the U.S. near the U.S.-Mexico border and were arrested in Combes, Texas. They had allegedly told family members they were moving to Florida.

Both are being held without bail in Texas and are expected to be extradited to Baltimore before March 20, according to charging documents.

“The information and evidence points it wasn’t a panhandler…People are taking advantage of Baltimore. We want to make sure the truth comes out and justice is done,” said Michael Harrison, BPD acting commissioner, during a press conference on March 4, with Mayor Catherine Pugh and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

“This is an example where collaborative efforts of the Baltimore Police Department and my office were able to get to the truth of the matter,” Mosby said.

“I’m disappointed that the two alleged suspects attempted to take advantage of negative perceptions of our city…We look forward to fighting for justice on behalf of Jacquelyn Smith and her family in a court of law.”

Pugh alluded to the deplorable ruse allegedly perpetrated by the accused murderers.

“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,” Pugh said. “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,” Pugh added.

Local television station, FOX 45 talked to the mother of Jacquelyn Smith, who said she had her doubts about how her daughter died from the beginning.

“She was just a good person. She liked everybody. She believed in God a lot. It was all phony. I knew it was not real. I suspected that he had something to do with it,” said Trisvan, who added she confronted her now estranged son-in-law at her daughter’s funeral.

“I gave you a beautiful daughter and you let her die like that, I know she didn’t deserve to die the way she died,” she said.

Smith and his daughter are both charged with nine counts of first-degree murder. Police have not established a motive in Jacquelyn Smith’s alleged murder.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

2 days ago

May 25, 2025

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California Assembly Passes Bill to Strengthen Penalties for Soliciting Minors

The revised version of Assembly Bill 379, authored by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), now allows prosecutors to file felony charges against adults who solicit sex from a 16 or 17-year-old, provided the accused is three or more years older than the minor. If the offender is within three years of the minor, the charge would remain a misdemeanor.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

The California State Assembly has agreed to amend a controversial bill that would increase penalties for adults who solicit sex from minors ages 16 or 17, following a wave of criticism from Republicans and concerns raised by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“From a prosecutor’s standpoint, this bill strengthens California law and gives us the felony hammer to prosecute the creeps that are preying on teenagers,” Krell said in a statement supporting the amended bill.

The new amendments also include provisions for a state grant program aimed at improving the prosecution of human trafficking and sex trafficking cases, as well as a support fund for survivors partially funded by increased fines on businesses that enable or fail to address human trafficking.

The bill faced significant opposition last week after the Assembly removed a provision that would have treated solicitation of 16 and 17-year-olds as a felony for all offenders.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Afterlife of Malcolm X

Betty Shabazz didn’t like to go to her husband’s speeches, but on that February night in 1965, he asked her to come with their daughters to the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Did Malcolm X sense that something bad would happen on that night? Surely. He was fully aware of the possibility, knowing that he’d been “a marked man” for months because of his very public break with the Nation of Islam.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Book Cover of the Afterlife of Malcolm X. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: by Mark Whitaker, c.2025, Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 448 pages

Who will remember you in fifty years’ time?

A handful of friends – at least those who are still around – might recall you. Your offspring, grandkids, and greats, maybe people who stumble upon your tombstone. Think about it: who will remember you in 2075? And then read “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” by Mark Whitaker and learn about a legacy that still resonates a half-century later.

As the news of his murder spread around New York and around the world, his followers and admirers reacted in many ways. His friend, journalist Peter Goldman, was “hardly shocked” because he also knew that Malcolm’s life was in danger, but the arrest of three men accused of the crime didn’t add up. It ultimately became Goldman’s “obsession.”

Malcolm’s co-writer for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, quietly finished the book he started with Malcolm, and a small upstart publishing house snatched it up. A diverse group of magazines got in line to run articles about Malcolm X’s life, finally sensing that White America “’needed his voice even more than Blacks did.’”

But though Malcolm X was gone, he continued to leave an impact.

He didn’t live long enough to see the official founding of the Black Panther Party, but he was influential on its beginning. He never knew of the first Kwanzaa, or the triumphs of a convert named Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm left his mark on music. He influenced at least three major athletes.

He was a “touchstone” for a president …

While it’s true that “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” is an eye-opening book, one that works as a great companion to the autobiography, it’s also a fact that it’s somewhat scattered. Is it a look at Malcolm’s life, his legacy, or is it a “murder mystery”?

Turns out, it’s all three, but the storylines are not smooth. There are twists and tangents and that may take some getting used-to. Just when you’re immersed, even absorbed in this book, to the point where you forget about your surroundings, author Mark Whitaker abruptly moves to a different part of the story. It may be jarring.

And yet, it’s a big part of this book, and it’s essential for readers to know the investigation’s outcome and what we know today. It doesn’t change Malcolm X’s legacy, but it adds another frame around it.

If you’ve read the autobiography, if you haven’t thought about Malcolm X in a while, or if you think you know all there is to know, then you owe it to yourself to find “The Afterlife of Malcolm X.”

For you, this is a book you won’t easily forget.