Suspect connected to Michigan toddler death had violent criminal history, records show

Matthew Dolan, Gina Kaufman, Christine MacDonald and Krystal Nurse, Detroit Free Press
·5 min read
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Two years before his arrest in connection with the disappearance of slain Michigan toddler Wynter Cole-Smith, Rashad Maleek Trice pleaded guilty to domestic violence after he was charged with assaulting the child's mother, according to court records reviewed by the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY network.

The 2021 criminal case from Monroe County in Michigan, which also lists Wynter as a "victim or complainant" in the case, is part of Trice's lengthy and violent history documented inside the state's criminal justice system, records show. Records indicate Trice assaulted Symari Cole, the mother, and do not specify why her daughter is described as a victim in the case.

Trice racked up a number of criminal convictions for his interactions with law enforcement officers in multiple Michigan counties, court records show. His motor vehicle violations led to the state revoking his driver's license last year.

Police discover Wynter Cole-Smith's body

On Monday, 26-year-old Trice was arrested fleeing authorities roughly 90 miles away from Lansing in St. Clair Shores, while the 2-year-old girl was still missing. On Wednesday night, Wynter's body was found on Detroit's east side, the FBI announced during a late-night news conference. (Court and driving records show Trice had listed Detroit as a previous residence.)

"Officers learned Trice left the home after stealing the victim’s 2013 white Chevrolet Impala," Lansing Police said in a release earlier this week. "The police also discovered the victim’s 2-year-old daughter Wynter Smith was also no longer in the home and is believed to have been kidnapped by the accused."

Wynter Cole-Smith, 2. She was found deceased in Detroit, federal authorities announced on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.
Wynter Cole-Smith, 2. She was found deceased in Detroit, federal authorities announced on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.

Lansing Police said they had been dispatched to a home in the city on Sunday, where they found 22-year-old Cole with stab wounds and other signs of assault. The woman identified Trice to police. She was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and authorities issued an Amber Alert for Cole's missing child, Wynter.

Cole and Trice had been in a previous relationship, according to authorities and court records. Police said Wynter Cole-Smith is not Trice's biological daughter.

Trice, however, did have a child with Cole, according to his account in a paternity case in Wayne County Circuit Court filed last year. Based on court records, their child would be younger than Wynter Cole-Smith.

Trice now faces eight felonies in Ingham County tied to what police said was the stabbing and assault of Cole. But authorities have not said whether they also plan to charge Trice, who is being held in custody without bond, in connection with Wynter's kidnapping and death. He was on probation for other charges at the time.

Children’s equipment is seen outside of an apartment where Rashad Trice, 26, is a suspect in the disappearance of Wynter Cole-Smith, 2, on Sunday night after he was charged with stabbing and assaulting her mother at their home in the 3000 block of BeauJardin Drive in the Towne Square Apartments and Townhomes in Lansing. Wynter was found deceased in Detroit on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.

'No good news': Body of missing Michigan toddler Wynter Smith found in Detroit

Rashad Maleek Trice's criminal history

Court records show Trice has had multiple interactions with law enforcement over the last two years, including convictions for assault and domestic violence.

The charges in Monroe County in May 2021 against Trice included assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer and domestic violence against Symari Cole. Trice pleaded guilty to reduced counts of attempted resisting and obstructing law enforcement and the domestic violence charge involving Wynter's mother, court records show.

Rashad Maleek Trice, 26, has been charged with eight felonies tied to what police said was the stabbing and assault of his ex-girlfriend. Authorities have not said whether they also plan to charge Trice, who is being held in custody without bond, in connection with the kidnapping and death of the woman's 2-year-old child, Wynter Cole-Smith. This undated photo is from the Michigan Department of Corrections, which had listed Trice as on probation for an earlier criminal case.

He was scheduled for sentencing in July of that year, but failed to appear, according to court records. A judge revoked his bond and issued a warrant for his arrest. He may have already been jailed in Livingston County at the time because the county sheriff later sent proof of his incarceration, saying he was at the jail there in August and was scheduled for release in November.

Trice eventually received a sentence of 224 days in jail on each resisting charge and 93 days on the domestic violence, all to be served concurrently.

After an encounter with Michigan State Police on Aug. 10, 2021, Trice was charged in Livingston County with crimes, including fleeing a police officer, assault and resisting or obstructing a police officer. Records show he was convicted and sentenced to at least a 24-month probation term. He was later found to be in violation of his probation and sentenced again on Dec. 22 last year.

Separately, in Clinton County court, in June 2021, he faced three felony counts related to assaulting, resisting or obstructing three law enforcement officers in Bath Township. Court records show he pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted assault of a police officer. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail beginning on Aug. 10 of that year, concurrent with any time he was already serving.

The next year, in April 2022, he appeared in court in Lansing on charges of assault and fleeing a law enforcement officer the year prior. Court records in Ingham County indicate he was sentenced to 93 days in jail after pleading guilty to lesser charges.

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Trice also had several driving violations

Trice also had a long history of problems on the road in Detroit, Lincoln Park, Dearborn, Howell and Lansing, according to his state driving record.

He first received his license in July 2014, but it was suspended in August 2019 and revoked in May 2022, records show. Among his driving violations were failing to display a valid license, no proof of insurance, failing to appear in court on related charges and failure to comply with an earlier court judgment.

On Monday, St. Clair Shores police spotted Trice's vehicle shortly after 6 a.m. near Nine Mile Road and Harper Avenue. Authorities attempted a traffic stop and Trice fled at a high rate of speed.

"After colliding with a police vehicle, Trice’s car was disabled. When officers tried to get Trice out of the vehicle, he grabbed at an officer’s gun, and resisted arrest but was eventually taken into custody," the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement Thursday.

On Thursday, in response to the latest arrest, Prosecutor Peter Lucido announced that Trice has been charged in Macomb with fleeing and eluding authorities, attempting to disarm an officer, receiving and concealing a motor vehicle, assault with a dangerous weapon, and resisting and obstructing law enforcement, including counts related to causing injury. He will be arraigned in Macomb County at a future date, prosecutors said.

Free Press staff writers Christina Hall and Frank Witsil contributed to this report.

Contact Matthew Dolan: 313-223-4743 or msdolan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @matthewsdolan

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Suspect in Michigan toddler death had criminal history, records show