INGHAM COUNTY, Mich. – A 27-year-old man from Detroit has been sentenced to life behind bars for a second time in the death of 2-year-old Wynter Cole Smith.
Rashad Maleek Trice was previously sentenced to life without parole in a Michigan court before he was sentenced in a federal court on Friday, Aug. 23, to life imprisonment.
According to authorities, Rashad Maleek Trice kidnapped Wynter in Lansing and stabbed and sexually assaulted her mother before stealing her vehicle and killing the toddler. He was arrested in St. Clair Shores just hours after the toddler was kidnapped, but Wynter wasn’t in the car at that time. Law enforcement found Wynter’s body three days later in Detroit amid a search effort.
Police said Trice actively resisted arrest while being taken into custody at the crash scene.
Trice was initially charged with 20 counts in connection with the crime and police pursuit that followed. He pleaded guilty in a Michigan court to first-degree murder and first-degree criminal sexual conduct on July 1, 2024, almost exactly a year after the crimes were committed. Trice was sentenced Aug. 16 to life without parole.
In a federal court, he pleaded guilty in March to kidnapping resulting in death and was sentenced Friday to life imprisonment.
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