Gang Member Gets 37 1/2 Years For Murder Of Girl, 9, On Trampoline

MINNEAPOLIS — A gang member from Minneapolis was sentenced Tuesday to 450 months, or 37 1/2 years, in prison for fatally shooting a 9-year-old girl who was jumping on a trampoline.

Dpree Shareef Robinson, 20, pled guilty back in March to second-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of Trinity Ottoson-Smith.

"Trinity’s murder was no accident," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. "Mr. Robinson was intent on killing that sunny, spring day and that is what he did. We cannot allow the killing to continue, we all must do more to end the violence."

Moriarty said her office will continue to prioritize the prosecution of violent crime and work with local communities to get guns off the street.

The shooting happened on the evening of May 15, 2021. Minneapolis police responded to a house after a shot spotter was activated on the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue North.

Trinity was jumping on a trampoline in a residential backyard with friends when she was struck and killed by gunfire, the investigation found. She and her two friends were playing directly between the shooter and the intended targets, according to the criminal complaint.

Robinson bragged about being an active shooter for the "Black Disciples" street gang on social media, authorities said. The targets were members of a rival gang, authorities said.