An act of kindness costed Baltimore woman her life.

5years ago

A Maryland woman was stabbed to death while trying to help a panhandler in front of the eyes of her family members.

52-year-old Jacquelyn Smith is known for her kind nature and willingness to help whoever in need, was stabbed to death when she approached a young woman who was holding a swaddled infant and carried a cardboard sign reading: "Please help me feed my baby."

an electrical engineer from Maryland's Harford County was in a family outing with her husband and daughter, Shavon Smith to celebrate Shavon's 28th birthday when she was moved by the sight of the poor woman.

her husband Keith Smith, said that his wife asked him to pull over while she rolled down the window and handed the woman $10.

"It was drizzling, it was cold, wet and my wife, like any normal person, felt sorry for the baby, which turned out not to even be a baby," he said. "It must have been like a stuffed animal or something wrapped in a blanket. From where we were, it looked like a baby and we thought it was a baby."

the husband spotted a man standing near the panhandler woman, but it did not cross his mind that he would be the murderer of his wife.

the mysterious man and the panhandler woman started thanking Smith over her kind gesture and in a blink of an eye he started stabbing her several times and snatched her necklace while the woman who appeared to be his partner reached to her purse and the two of them scurried off into the darkness.

Jacquelyn was pronounced dead from a stab wound to her chest in Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Baltimore interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said during a news conference Monday that detectives are seeking the public's help in identifying the two suspects.

He described the female suspect as being in her 20s with medium brown skin, a medium build, about 5 feet tall, and wearing a long brown coat. He said the suspected male accomplice is black, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium build, a goatee and wearing a black hoodie.