Keith Smith's Daughter Testifies Against Him During Murder Trial

Source: Baltimore Sun / Getty

On December 1, 2018, Jacquelyn Smith was tragically stabbed to death in Baltimore. Her husband, Keith Smith, told the authorities that a panhandler and the man she was with were responsible for the killing, but that narrative eventually fell apart, and, in 2019, he and his daughter, Valeria Smith, were both arrested on first-degree murder charges. (The murder charge against Valaria was later dropped and she was instead charged as an accessory in Jacquelyn’s killing.)

On Wednesday, the jury presiding over Keith’s murder trial began their deliberations but left around 5 p.m. without reaching a verdict, according to CBS Baltimore. The day before deliberations began, Valeria delivered a chilling testimony saying it was her father who stabbed and killed Jacquelyn.

Valeria said Tuesday that on the night of her stepmother’s death, she was celebrating her belated birthday with Keith and Jacquelyn. But Keith, she testified, was driving that night and he made a detour on their way from the birthday venue and drove to Druid Hill Park where “the car slowed down” and “my father stabbed his wife.”

Valeria continued saying that her father dumped the knife he stabbed Jacquelyn with in the woods and instructed her to lie to the authorities and say it was a panhandler who committed the stabbing. (It’s worth mentioning that, as we previously reported, he described the apparently imaginary male assailant as a Black man in a black hoodie—so this negro was really out here about to have cops profiling random Black men for a murder he allegedly committed.)

Valeria said on the stand that her father “was calm” after the stabbing but that his demeanor changed when he called 911 to report it. She also said that a day or two after the killing, Keith went to Jacquelyn’s to get documents related to her life insurance policy.

Keith’s attorney argued that Valeria played a larger role in the killing than what her testimony implied and that she only turned on her father after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

Other witnesses who testified Tuesday include an FBI agent who said on the stand that cell phone and Google data put Keith and Valeria at the park at the time Jacquelyn is believed to have died and that two hours later, the two were in East Baltimore where Keith claimed the attack took place.

A Texas state trooper also testified that Keith and Valeria were apprehended about 25 minutes away from the Mexico border. In fact, Valeria read excerpts from her journal on the stand including one entry from when she and her father were at the border that read, “Today has got to be the craziest day of my life. I am officially on the run.”

The Jury reportedly resumed deliberations on Thursday morning.