MI Man Gets Life In Prison For Kidnapping, Killing Toddler

MICHIGAN — A Michigan man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing a 2-year-old girl and dumping her body in Detroit last summer.

Rashad Trice, 27, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and first-degree criminal sexual conduct last month.

He was also sentenced to an additional 60 to 90 years in prison for the sexual assault of the toddler's mother.

Trice was initially charged with 20 counts in connection with the crime and police pursuit that followed.

Officials said Trice kidnapped 2-year-old Wynter Smith from her Lansing home last after attacking her mother last July. He drove away from the home in a 2013 white Chevrolet Impala, according to police.

Trice was arrested hours later in St. Clair Shores where he crashed while fleeing officers, but the toddler wasn’t in the car at that time, according to police.

Three days later, officials found the toddler's body in an alley with tall grass behind a home on Detroit’s east side near Olympia Street and Erwin Avenue, according to police.

Officials said the toddler was strangled to death with a pink cell phone charger.

In a series of text messages with his uncle the morning he took the toddler, Trice's uncle said "I love u man please," "I can help come to me ray" and "it's not your fault the girl is the devil," according to a criminal complaint.

Trice responded with "I love y'all but I have to end this shit man," according to a criminal complaint. The date of the messages were unclear in the complaint.

"Nothing can bring Wynter back, but I hope knowing that Mr. Trice will spend the rest of his life behind bars, without the need for a lengthy trial, offers some solace to her loved ones," Michigan Atroney General Dana Nessel said. "Thanks to the tireless work of law enforcement and prosecutors in my office, the man responsible for these horrific acts will never again endanger our communities."