Rashad Trice, 26, allegedly kidnapped Wynter Cole-Smith, 2, from her mother’s home in Lansing, Michigan, killed her, and abandoned her body in an alley. (Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office/Lansing Police Department)
Shocking details about how a Michigan man allegedly kidnapped his ex-girlfriend’s 2-year-old and brutally murdered her are revealed in recently released court records.
The U.S. Department of Justice in the Western District of Michigan charged Rashad Maleek Trice, 26, on Friday with kidnapping a minor and kidnapping resulting in death.
Investigators allege Trice stabbed and sexually assaulted the mother of Wynter Cole-Smith before abducting the toddler from her mother’s apartment in the city of Lansing.
He allegedly stole a Chevrolet Impala from the child’s maternal grandmother and drove about 90 miles east to the Detroit-area city of St. Claire Shores. An officer spotted Trice and tried to pull him over, but he fled and crashed into another police vehicle, officials said.
Investigators did not find Trice or Wynter at the crash scene. But investigators “found a significant amount of blood” in the vehicle which was consistent with Trice’s injuries, as the mother told police she stabbed him in self-defense.
Investigators discovered “portions of a pink cell phone charging cord” in the vehicle.
Gruesome discovery made near airport
Tracking Trice’s driving route through his cell phone, they searched on Wednesday an area near Coleman A. Young International Airport in Detroit. Shortly before 7 pm, police found Wynter dead nearby in an alley.
The medical examiner continues to investigate Wynter’s official cause of death.
“[Wynter’s] cause of death appeared to be strangulation with a pink cell phone charging cord, that was recovered with the body,” police wrote. “The pink cell phone charging cord was consistent with the pink cord parts recovered from the Chevrolet Impala.”
Speaking to investigators at the hospital, Trice claimed he never took Wynter, according to records. Trice claimed he last saw the child with her mother.
Trice allegedly admitted to investigators that he and Wynter’s mother had been arguing about money on June 2. This argument became violent and they both stabbed each other, records show.
‘I am already a monster’
“Trice also admitted that he was aware of the Amber Alert,” they wrote. “Trice stated words to the effect of, ‘I am already a monster.’ Trice also stated that he wanted to kill himself. As part of a ruse during the interview, the FBI Agent informed Trice that video surveillance showed Trice and [Wynter] in the vehicle together. Trice stated that if law enforcement showed him the video surveillance footage, then Trice would be forced to admit his involvement.”
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Text evidence from showed Trice’s uncle pleaded with him through text timed at 3:06 a.m., less than a half-hour after authorities put out an Amber Alert to find Wynter and the suspect.
“I love you man please,” the uncle texted Trice. “I can help u come to me ray. It’s not your fault the girl is the devil.”
“I love y’all but I have to end this shit man,” Trice allegedly wrote back.
The federal records show authorities said: “There is probable cause to believe that [Wynter] was murdered by Trice and left in the alley, where her body was discovered.”
The defendant is charged in Macomb County, Michigan, for fleeing and eluding, attempting to disarm an officer, receiving and concealing a motor vehicle, assault with dangerous weapon, resisting and obstructing causing injury, and three counts of resisting and obstructing a police officer.
‘Heart-wrenching turn’
“Tragically, this case has taken a heart-wrenching turn, as we must now face the devastating reality that the little girl, a precious life with endless potential, was brutally taken away,” said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido. “The alleged events that transpired in our neighbor county are heinous actions.”
Trice was arraigned Wednesday in Ingham County on the following charges: assault with intent to murder, two counts of criminal sexual conduct, home invasion, unlawful imprisonment, aggravated domestic violence second offense, unlawful driving away of an automobile, and felonious assault.
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“We are devastated by the tragic news that Wynter Cole Smith was found deceased today,” Ingham County Prosecutor John J. Dewane said on Wednesday. “Our hearts are with Wynter’s family as they begin to process and grieve the unnecessary loss of a beautiful two-year old child.”
If convicted in federal court of kidnapping resulting in death, Trice would get a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison, but he would also face a possible death sentence. If convicted of kidnapping a minor, the punishment will range from 20 years to life behind bars.
“It is so difficult to imagine the final moments of little Wynter’s life,” stated U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Dawn N. Ison. “I commend Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Rawsthorne of my office, FBI, Detroit Police, and all the other law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly for days to find Wynter in Detroit and return her home. My heart breaks for her family, and all of us mourn with them.”
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