Keith And Valeria Smith Extradited To Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD — The father and daughter charged in the murder of Jacquelyn Smith have been extradited back to Maryland. Police said Keith Smith and his daughter Valeria Smith had tried to flee the country about two months after they killed the 54-year-old Harford County woman.

The duo is accused of fabricating a story about Jacquelyn Smith being fatally stabbed in a car by a panhandler in east Baltimore on Dec. 1, 2018.

Keith Tyrone Smith, 52, of the 4900 block of Villa Point Drive in Aberdeen, and Valeria Shavon Smith, 28, of the 1300 block of Homewood Avenue in Baltimore, were arrested in Texas near the Mexican border on March 3 before they could leave the country, police said.

The Baltimore Police Department's Warrant Apprehension Task Force arrived with the Smiths at 12:25 a.m. on Thursday, March 21, police reported. They were taken to the Central Booking Intake Facility in Baltimore City for processing.

,The two were taken into custody

At the time of the stabbing, police said Jacquelyn Smith had been in a car.

Both Keith and Valeria Smith told police that a panhandler stabbed Jacquelyn Smith to death after they were leaving a family gathering, according to authorities.

Officers from the Eastern District were notified by a local hospital about a walk-in stabbing victim around 12:34 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1, police said.

Despite the efforts of doctors, officials reported that Jacquelyn Smith succumbed to her injury — a stab wound to the chest — and was pronounced deceased.

Of the story Keith Smith told when he placed a call to 911 on Dec. 1, 2018, said Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison: "We now know that that was not true."

He credited "good detective work" and "tenacious" efforts to pursue the evidence since Jacquelyn Smith's death led to charges against the father and daughter of first-degree murder, Harrison reported. He said he did not want to get into the details of the case, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation and pending judicial proceedings.

RELATED:

• Husband, Stepdaughter Charged In Stabbing Of Jacquelyn Smith: BPD
• Havre de Grace Man Knew Panhandler Didn't Kill His Sister: Report
• Harford Woman Killed Giving Money To Woman With 'Baby'
• Aberdeen Woman Fatally Stabbed Was Engineer At APG: Report
• Oprah On Homicide By Panhandler: 'This Story Struck My Heart'
• Panhandling Under Scrutiny After Baltimore Homicide
• Tributes Held For Woman Killed By Panhandler In East Baltimore