She Rolled Down Window to Help Panhandler, Ended Up Dead

Jacquelyn Smith's husband was driving, with the Maryland woman in the passenger seat and her stepdaughter in the back, when Smith rolled down her window to give money to a panhandler standing near a Baltimore intersection early Saturday as the trio returned home from celebrating a birthday. The young woman appeared to be holding a swaddled infant and had a sign reading, "Please help me feed my baby," the AP reports. But as Smith was handing her money, a man approached the car and started struggling with Smith over her wallet. He ultimately stabbed her in the torso, then ran off with the panhandler, police say. Smith's husband, Keith, rushed her to the emergency room, but she died hours later, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Police are still searching for the suspects, who made off with Smith's pocketbook and necklace. The man who approached the car asked Keith Smith if he could thank his wife before the struggle ensued, and after the stabbing, Smith says, the woman posing as a panhandler paused before running off: "This girl actually said 'God bless you,'" he says. Jacquelyn Smith, 54, leaves behind two sons, WMAR reports. Her 19-year-old son says she was always looking for ways to be kind to others. "I think it was a split second decision of wanting to help somebody else. She really cared for everybody. She loved everyone and was very compassionate." (Another Good Samaritan was killed after pulling over to help someone.)