Stepdaughter Pleads Guilty To Accessory In Murder: Report

BALTIMORE, MD — The stepdaughter of a Harford County woman fatally stabbed last December in Baltimore reportedly pleaded guilty to being an accessory in her murder. She admitted to playing a role as an accessory after the fact in the death of her stepmother, Jacquelyn Smith, 54, of Aberdeen, and telling police what authorities later alleged was a story that Smith had been killed by a panhandler in a robbery as she gave money out the window of their car.

Valeria Shavon Smith, 28, of the 1300 block of Homewood Avenue in Baltimore, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact in Baltimore City Circuit Court Thursday, Sep. 26, and told the judge she had been treated in a mental hospital in 2012 and was seeing a psychiatrist since her incarceration.

She and her father were taken into custody in Texas near the Mexican border in March. Police said they were trying to flee the country as detectives built a case showing the story they told about Jacquelyn Smith's death was fabricated.

The father and daughter said the 54-year-old Aberdeen woman was killed Saturday, Dec. 1, giving money to a panhandler on Valley Street while they were in the car.

But cell phone data showed that although they said they were in east Baltimore, the Smiths' car was near Druid Hill Park, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Clad in a pink jumpsuit at court Thursday, Valeria Smith admitted she witnessed the murder and disposed of her stepmother's purse at a bus stop, according to The Baltimore Sun.

While her plea agreement in the murder case is sealed as her father's trial is pending, The Sun reported Valeria Smith faces to up to 10 years when she is sentenced in January.

Court records show she was initially charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, among other offenses. However, the charges were reduced May 31 to accessory after the fact.

Her attorney, Brandon Mead, told CNN in June that prosecutors did not have evidence to back up murder charges against her, saying: "Both Ms. Smith and I are happy that the state has seen that she is not responsible for the untimely death of Mrs. Jacquelyn Smith."

Valeria Smith's father — Keith Tyrone Smith, 52, whose addresses in court records are listed as Aberdeen, Maryland, and Winter Haven, Florida — is slated to appear in court Oct. 7 on charges of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon with intent to injure. He was the victim's husband.

Prosecutors reportedly declined to say whether Valeria Smith would be testifying against her father as part of her plea agreement.

See More On The Murder Case Of Jacquelyn Smith:

• Husband, Stepdaughter Charged In Stabbing Of Jacquelyn Smith: BPD
• Aberdeen Woman Fatally Stabbed Was Engineer At APG: Report
• Harford Woman Killed Giving Money To Woman With 'Baby
• 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