GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WXYZ) — The man accused of kidnapping and murdering a toddler from Lansing faced a federal judge Tuesday.
The hearing started at 10:30 a.m. in Magistrate Judge Ray Kent's courtroom at the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Grand Rapids.
After Trice waived his right to a bond hearing, FBI special agent Christopher Rodolico took the stand to share the facts of the case in a preliminary hearing.
Investigators say on July 2, 26-year-old Rashad Trice stabbed, beat and sexually assaulted a woman at her Lansing apartment. Police say the woman ran from the apartment to the parking lot, where she found a bystander to help her call police. Investigators say she also asked the third party to take her to her grandmother's home who lived close by.
When the woman returned to the apartment where she had left Trice and her two toddler-age children, her 2-year-old daughter Wynter Cole-Smith, Trice, her car keys and white Chevrolet Impala were gone, according to police testimony.
Soon after police issued an Amber Alert for the 2-year-old, Rodolico says they were able to access Trice's cellphone data through an emergency disclosure. The data showed a broad vision of Trice's route, which went west first and then east toward Detroit.
Around 6 a.m. Monday morning, police located Trice in St. Clair Shores. Rodolico testified that Trice first crashed the vehicle he was in trying to allude arresting officers then attempted to take an officer's gun. The 26-year-old had stab wounds in his chest and abdomen at the time of his arrest, according to Rodolico. The FBI special agent went on to say it's unclear what if any injuries the suspect may have sustained in the crash.
Police say search warrants of Trice’s phone also revealed a text thread between the 26-year-old and a family member Sunday night into Monday morning. In the thread, police allege Trice sent “I have to finish this. I love y’all." The photographic evidence of the text thread showed at 4:01 a.m. Trice sent “she’s gone."
After several days of searching, FBI agents later found the baby girl's remains in an overgrown grassy patch in an alleyway on the east side of Detroit. They say they found evidence on the toddler's body including marks and portions of the weapon used that indicated had been strangled to death. The FBI says they also found evidence on the floor of the driver's side of the white Impala Trice was driving consistent with theories of strangulation.
Trice could now face the death penalty as a result of two felony counts rendered by the U.S. Attorney's office, including kidnapping and kidnapping causing death.
"You have deeply hurt us. You have injured us. You shook our souls when you took that baby away. And what I would say to you is you deserve everything that’s coming to you and even more after this life is over. You have to pay," said Willeen Cannon, who is the grandmother of Wynter Cole-Smith.
Cannon says during the search, she desperately hoped for a different outcome but is relieved her granddaughter was ultimately found and could be laid to rest. Cannon says she wants prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in her granddaughter's case.
"She was just growing, you know," Cannon said. "I hate that her journey stopped here in the way it did, but Wynter was really advancing on a fast level and all that has been taken away from her now."
Cannon says while more rough days are ahead, they’re finding peace in the possibility of justice for Wynter.
"It’s bringing closure to the fact that Wynter is getting her justice for what happened to her. (My daughter) is. We all are. We think he is getting what he deeply deserves for this because there was no reasoning for him to attack that baby or my daughter."
In court Tuesday, Kent expressed concerns that the facts of this case may not warrant federal charges however the judge ultimately found probable cause. The charges will now be reviewed by a grand jury, which will determine if the court has jurisdiction to charge Trice federally. That is expected to take place over the next three weeks.
Trice is expected to remain in custody without bond. State charges in the case are still pending.
The maternal family of Wynter is working to raise money for the 2-year-old's mother as she recovers from her attack via a GoFundMe page. You can find a link to that here.
