A Michigan man has been indicted on federal charges in the kidnapping and death of 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith, prosecutors said Friday.
The girl’s body was found in an alley in Detroit on Wednesday night, three days after she was reported missing after her mother was assaulted by an ex-boyfriend, authorities said.
That ex-boyfriend, Rashad Maleek Trice, is now charged with federal kidnapping of a minor and kidnapping resulting in death, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan said.
“The allegations in this case are heartbreaking,” US Attorney Mark Totten said. said in a statement.
Wynter’s death “appeared to be strangulation with a pink cell phone charging cable, which was recovered with the body,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint. A coroner’s report on the cause is pending.
The discovery of the boy’s body around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday followed days of searches by local, state and federal law enforcement officials.
Wynter disappeared Sunday after a violent encounter at her mother’s house in Lansing around 11:20 p.m., according to authorities.
The mother stabbed Trice in self-defense, Trice stabbed her and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. The mother fled, and when police arrived, the 2-year-old girl was missing, authorities said.
Trice, 26, had also stolen the mother’s white 2013 Chevrolet Impala, according to the affidavit.
Trice was seen and arrested Monday morning in St. Clair Shores, adjacent to Detroit and about 90 miles east of Lansing, but the girl was not with him.
Wynter’s body was found in a Detroit alley around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. Cell phone data led investigators to areas where Trice had been, the prosecutor’s office said.
A vigil was to be held in Detroit on Friday for the girl. A vigil was also held on Thursday, Detroit’s NBC affiliate WDIV reported.
Trice was being guarded at a hospital, the Lansing police chief said earlier this week.
He was previously indicted on state charges including assault with intent to murder, burglary, domestic violence and others for Sunday’s assault, police said.
It was not clear if Trice had an attorney who could speak on her behalf Friday night.
There is a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison if convicted of kidnapping resulting in death, and eligible for the death penalty, the US Attorney’s Office said.
