
Michigan man pleads guilty to kidnapping and killing 2-year-old Wynter Cole Smith
Michigan man pleads guilty to kidnapping and killing 2-year-old girl last summer, bringing a 100-mile search to a tragic end.

A tragic incident came to a close on Friday when a Michigan man, Rashad Trice, pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and killing of two-year-old Wynter Cole Smith. Last summer, the disappearance of the young girl sparked a massive 100-mile search effort from the state capital to the Detroit area.
Admission of Guilt and Details of the Crime
Trice, aged 27, admitted that he took Wynter Cole Smith from her home in Lansing as part of a dispute with a former girlfriend, who was the girl's mother. Shockingly, the girl was strangled with a phone cord and left in a Detroit alley last July, according to investigators.
Federal Charges and Jurisdiction
Trice faced charges in federal court due to the fact that, while the kidnapping did not cross state lines, there was federal jurisdiction because the car and other tools used in the crime, including a phone, were made outside Michigan, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Closure and Sentencing
Lansing police Chief Ellery Sosebee expressed hope that Trice's guilty plea would "give Wynter’s family, friends, and all of the law enforcement partners a sense of closure." Trice faces a sentence of life in prison, and there are separate charges pending against him in state court.
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