Oprah Winfrey, who is among the richest women in the world, says she will think twice about giving money to the homeless after a 54-year-old Maryland woman was fatally stabbed in east Baltimore.
On Tuesday, Oprah, 64, tweeted:
“This story struck my heart. I’ve done this a 1k times. But will think twice before ever doing again. To J.S. family I hope her death gets people ‘woke’ to change!”
Jacquelyn Smith, an electrical engineer from Aberdeen, Maryland, was riding in a car with her husband, Keith Smith, and her stepdaughter after midnight on Saturday, when she attempted to give money to a homeless woman with a baby.
The homeless woman, who was allegedly panhandling in the freezing rain, held up a cardboard sign that read: “Please help me feed my baby.”
When Smith rolled down the front passenger window to give the woman money, a man approached the car and stabbed her in the chest. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.
“Snatched her necklace, and before I knew it, the girl snatched the little pocketbook from the seat and they both ran,” Keith told WJZ. “I jumped out the car to run, but I heard my wife screaming, so I came back to the car.”
As the suspects fled, Keith said the woman paused long enough to tell him something.
“This girl actually said ‘God bless you,'” he said.
Baltimore detectives and dozens of police recruits canvassed the Johnston Square neighborhood in east Baltimore searching for clues on Monday afternoon.
“Always be aware of your surroundings,” Baltimore officer Jeremy Silbert said, according to WPVI-TV. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of the day or the middle of the night. If you’re driving, if you’re walking, if you see something or someone that’s suspicious, call 911.”
