Man Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping, Killing 2-Year-Old Lansing Girl

DETROIT — A man pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing a Lansing toddler whose body was found in Detroit last July.

Officers found the body of 2-year-old Wynter Smith at roughly 6:50 p.m. on July 5 in an alley with tall grass behind a home on Detroit’s east side near Olympia Street and Erwin Avenue, police said.

Rashad Trice, 27, pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death. In exchange for the guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed to drop a charge of kidnapping a minor, a felony with a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.

Trice is scheduled to be sentenced July 19 by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids. He faces a mandatory life in prison sentence.

Prosecutors said Trice admitted to kidnapping Smith from her Lansing home on July 2 after a fight with the toddler's mother. He then took her to an alley between Olympia Street and Edgewood Avenue in Detroit where he strangled her with a pink cell phone cord, according to prosecutors.

Police found the toddler's body three days later, according to prosecutors.

As part of the plea agreement, a judge ordered Trice to pay restitution, which will be determined at his sentencing, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty.