A Michigan man pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping and killing a 2-year-old girl, whose disappearance last summer sparked a 100-mile search from the state capital to the Detroit area.
Rashad Trice, 27, admitted that he took Winter Cole Smith from his Lansing home as part of an argument with his ex-girlfriend, who is Winter Cole Smith’s mother.
Investigators say the girl was strangled with a phone cord and left in a Detroit alley last July.
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Trice was charged in federal court. Although the kidnapping did not cross state lines, the devices used in the crime, including the car and telephone, were manufactured outside of Michigan and therefore fell under federal jurisdiction, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Michigan resident Rashad Trice has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing 2-year-old Winter Cole Smith.
“This provides a sense of closure for Mr. Winter’s family, friends, and all of our law enforcement partners who have been and continue to be affected by this tragedy,” said Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee. I hope so.”
Search teams fanned out along the highway between Lansing and Detroit, using divers, dogs, drones and helicopters to search until the girl’s body was found.
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Trice could be sentenced to life in prison. Other charges against him are pending in state court.
