Shivangi Sinha
A little after midnight on December 1, 2018, police were called to the intersection of North Valley and East Chase streets in Baltimore, Maryland, following reports of a stabbing. By the time they arrived at the spot, Jacquelyn Smith had been pronounced dead at the hospital while accompanied by her husband, Keith Smith, and her stepdaughter, Valeria Smith. When questioned, the father-daughter duo claimed that Jacquelyn had been stabbed by a panhandler after giving a woman some money. However, evidence that began emerging shortly afterward pointed to a different version of events, and suspicion eventually fell on Valeria as well. NBC’s ‘Dateline’, particularly the episode ‘Deadly Intersection’, examines the case and the events that led to the fatal incident.
Valeria Smith Claimed She Reiterated the Panhandler Story as Her Father Told Her
Valeria Smith was Keith Smith’s daughter, and he raised her in East Baltimore, Maryland. As she grew older, her life took a number of different turns. She recorded rap songs, worked as a boutique cashier and founded a publishing company called Purple Press LLC. However, according to court records, Valeria shared that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had a history of substance abuse. At Keith’s trial, prosecutors argued that family friction emerged when Keith married Jacquelyn in 2014. Prosecutors alleged that tensions grew further when Jacquelyn expressed a desire to relocate to another house, which could’ve disrupted the living arrangements of Valeria, who was a mother of two.
According to Valeria’s own testimony, on November 30, 2018, she, Keith, and her stepmother went to a VFW hall, where she spent time dancing, drinking, and eating. She testified that, on their way back, Keith stabbed Jacquelyn in Druid Hill Park, after which she helped him dispose of Jacquelyn’s wallet. Valeria further stated that Keith had instructed her to use the cover story that Jacquelyn had been attacked by a panhandler before he called the police. This was the account she initially repeated to investigators. However, inconsistencies in their statements soon emerged as the investigation progressed.
As detectives investigated, they found no crime scene, witnesses, or surveillance footage to support the panhandler story. They also reviewed footage from 27 cameras along the route the Smiths had described but found no sign of their car. Cellphone records placed Keith and Valeria nearly four miles away in Druid Hill Park for about 15 minutes, a stop neither had mentioned. When confronted, Keith claimed he had gotten lost, while Valeria asked for an attorney. Further investigation, including wiretaps and statements from Keith’s brother, pointed to a possible motive involving Jacquelyn’s plans for divorce.
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Valeria Smith Has Most Likely Been Released From Prison Today
After Keith Smith fled to Florida, Texas troopers located their car. Valeria Smith eventually admitted she had witnessed the stabbing, lied to investigators and helped dispose of evidence. In March 2019, Valeria was arrested alongside her father in Harlingen, Texas. Reports noted that she had dyed her hair blonde and was carrying a diary she had purchased along the way. Prosecutors pointed out that she had written in it that she was “officially on the run.” Valeria was initially charged with first-degree murder, but the charge was later dropped and replaced with accessory after the fact.
In September 2019, Valeria pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, admitting that she had lied to police and the media, helped discard Jacquelyn’s pocketbook, and fled the state with her father in an attempt to evade capture. In a letter to the judge, she said she had been “strung out on drugs and scared for my life.” She also agreed to testify against her father in exchange for a five-year prison sentence. At Keith’s trial, she said that he discarded the knife. In December 2021, she was sentenced to 10 years, with five suspended, along with credit for time served and three years of probation following her release. Even without parole, Valeria Smith would have been eligible for release around 2024. Therefore, from what we can tell, she has been released from prison as of writing. However, little has been reported about her life since then.
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