Suspect in slain toddler's disappearance accused of striking a child last year
The man accused in the kidnapping and death of toddler Wynter Cole-Smith pleaded guilty to violating his probation last year after authorities accused him of striking his daughter, court records show.
At the time, Rashad Maleek Trice was on probation for assaulting a police officer. Court documents obtained Friday from Livingston County reveal that a probation officer wrote that Trice had "hit his daughter on the face with a phone charger." The probation officer in court papers said she learned of the incident on Nov. 30 from another agent, describing it as Trice "engaging in assaultive, abusive, threatening or intimidating behavior."
Trice was living in Detroit at the time of the probation violation.
His girlfriend then, Symari Cole, described the incident as an accident to authorities, according to court papers. The officer however still reported the interaction as a probation violation and submitted a photo of the child's face with "a distinctive mark."
Wynter, the 2-year-old girl kidnapped in Lansing and found slain in Detroit this week, was not Trice’s biological child. But authorities say Cole and Trice do have a 1-year-old boy together. The girl described in court records as his "daughter" and struck by the phone device last year is not named in the documents.
After Trice pleaded guilty to the probation violation, a judge in December ordered Trice to meet with his probation officer twice a month for 60 days and attend parenting classes as extra conditions of his probation. No additional jail time was ordered, according to a Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman.
On Friday, a department spokesman said Trice completed those classes by April of this year. A message left for the center running those classes was not immediately returned Friday.
The revelation about an earlier possible assault of a child comes as federal authorities brought new charges against Trice on Friday for the kidnapping and death of Wynter Cole-Smith. Federal authorities said in court papers they believe Trice fought last weekend in Lansing with Cole, stabbed her and then kidnapped Wynter, who later was found dead in a Detroit alleyway, possibly strangled with a pink cellphone charging cable.
More: Suspect charged in kidnapping of 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith
More: 'No good news': Body of Lansing toddler Wynter Smith found in Detroit
Trice, who was apprehended Monday fleeing authorities in St. Clair Shores, is being held without bond on charges filed in Lansing related to the assault on Sunday against Cole. It was unclear Friday when he would appear in court to confront the new federal charges, which could carry a maximum sentence of death upon conviction.
Two years before his arrest in connection with the disappearance of Wynter, Trice also pleaded guilty to domestic violence after he was charged with assaulting Cole, according to court records reviewed by the Free Press.
The 2021 criminal case from Monroe County, 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 Cole but do not specify why her daughter is described as a victim in the case.
More: Records shed light on suspect connected to deceased toddler Wynter Cole-Smith
Trice has 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.
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 slain toddler's case accused of striking a child last year
