A Michigan man has been charged with federal counts in the kidnapping and death of 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith, prosecutors said Friday.
The child’s body was found in an alley in Detroit on Wednesday evening, three days after she was reported missing after her mother had been assaulted by an ex-boyfriend, officials have said.
That ex-boyfriend, Rashad Maleek Trice, is now charged with federal counts of kidnapping a minor and kidnapping resulting in death, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan said.
“The allegations in this case are heart-wrenching,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement.
Wynter’s death “appeared to be strangulation with a pink cell phone charging cord, that was recovered with the body,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint. A medical examiner’s report on the cause is pending.
The discovery of the child’s body around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday followed days of searching by local, state and federal law enforcement officials.
Wynter went missing Sunday after a violent encounter in her mother’s home in Lansing around 11:20 p.m., according to officials.
The mother had stabbed Trice in self-defense, Trice stabbed and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. The mother fled, and when police arrived the 2-year-old was missing, officials have said.
Trice, 26, had also stolen the mother’s 2013 white Chevrolet Impala, the affidavit said.
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Trice was spotted and arrested Monday morning in St. Clair Shores, which is adjacent to Detroit and is around 90 miles east of Lansing, but the child was not with him.
Wynter’s body was found in an alley in Detroit around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, officials 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 Thursday, NBC affiliate WDIV of Detroit reported.
Trice was being guarded at a hospital, Lansing’s police chief said earlier this week.
He was previously charged on state counts that include assault with intent to murder, home invasion, domestic violence and others for Sunday’s assault, police said.
It was not clear if Trice had an attorney who could speak on his behalf Friday night.
There is a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison if convicted of kidnapping resulting in death, and it is eligible for the death penalty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
