Smith's father was convicted last week of murdering his wife, Valeria's stepmother Jacquelyn, in front of Valeria before telling her to lie about the incident.
Valeria Smith, a 31-year-old Baltimore woman, has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to acting as an accessory to lying about how her stepmother died after her father stabbed her then pressured Valeria to join him in a series of lies.
He allegedly told his daughter to follow his lead through a series of lies to police and media, claiming his wife was murdered by panhandlers who approached the car while it was stopped and asked for money. Valeria Smith testified in her father's trial that her stepmother was asleep in the passenger seat of their car when her father suddenly stabbed her. She also said that while following her father's directions, she abandoned her stepmother's purse in a park.
The pair tried to flee to Mexico as police drew closer to charging them in the homicide, and they were arrested in Texas in September 2019. Valeria pleaded guilty, and her father's trial concluded last week. He was convicted of murder and is set to be sentenced February 28, facing a potential sentence of life in prison.