A woman in Baltimore saw a man panhandling with a sign asking to help feed his baby, and she gave him money. The man thanked her, and then proceeded to stab her to death in broad daylight according to a report:
Jacquelyn Smith was with two of her relatives after a family get-together when they came across a panhandler asking for help, Baltimore police said, according to WBFF.
The woman panhandler was holding a cardboard sign on Valley Street in Baltimore, and it read: “Please help me feed my baby,” police said in a media statement. She was also “possibly carrying a baby or something wrapped to look like a baby,” according to the release. The statement was tweeted out by a Baltimore Sun reporter.
Smith, 52, rolled down her front-passenger car window before giving money to the woman, police said, according to WJZ. That was at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
After helping the woman, a man came up to the car and thanked Smith and her family for the money, according to WBAL. Then he reached inside the car to grab Smith’s wallet, police said, according to the TV station.
With his hand inside the car, “a struggle ensued,” and the man used a knife to stab Smith in the torso, according to the police statement.
Both the man and the woman then ran from the scene together, according to the Associated Press.
Smith showed up at an area hospital as a walk-in stabbing victim, police said on Facebook, and “despite doctors efforts,” she died at the hospital.
“Detectives did talk to the two family members who were in the car,” said Baltimore City Police’s Jeremy Silbert, according to WJZ. “Certainly, we can all imagine how distraught they were after witnessing something like that. Right now, we just hope someone in the community will come forward.”
The man was described as a black male, about 30 years old and about 6-feet fall with a goatee, WJZ reported. The woman appeared to be in her twenties, according to WBAL.
Homicide detectives said the man is the main suspect, but police are also looking for the woman and investigating if the two are both connected to the crime, according to WJZ.
Anyone with any information on the fatal stabbing is asked to call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland at 1-866-7-lockup. (source, source)