Suspect accused of kidnapping, killing Lansing toddler assaulted her mom in 2021, court records show
(CBS DETROIT) - When it comes to 26-year-old Rashad Maleek Trice, his list of run-ins with the law is almost too long to list.
Court records show Trice has fought, fled, resisted or obstructed police on five different occasions since 2021.
The first incident came in May 2021, when Trice was sentenced to seven and a half months for charges including assault and domestic violence. The victim listed in that case is Wynter Cole-Smith's mother, who police say Trice brutally attacked before allegedly kidnapping and killing her 2-year-old daughter on Sunday, July 2.
A month later, in June 2021, records obtained by The Detroit News show Trice pleaded guilty to attempted assault on a police officer in Clinton County and was sentenced to serve 12 months in jail starting on Aug. 10, 2021.
But when that day came, court records show Trice was charged in Livingston County court after fleeing and obstructing police there. Records show Trice would spend more than a year behind bars before being let go on Oct. 31, 2022, sticking him with an additional two-year probation, one that records show Trice would later violate a month later.
And then this past weekend, Trice's trail of violent crimes led him to his ex-girlfriend in Lansing, where police say he stabbed her and accused Trice of kidnapping and killing Wynter.
"He took one of the things she loved more than life, her child. He took her child. That's hatred," former assistant police chief Steve Dolunt told CBS Detroit Thursday.
Trice was arrested after a brief police chase in St. Clair Shores and later booked into Ingham County Jail, where he now awaits charges in connection to Wynter's murder.
"When you have a history like he has, he needs to be incarcerated until there is a meaningful intervention," Former Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee says.
When asked about why Trice was given multiple passes despite his long rap sheet with police, Dolunt says there is no excuse.
"The justice system failed her, failed the child. And I don't know what he said to the judge for them to say don't do it again. I'm tired of this don't do it again. Don't do it again. They are doing it again!," Dolunt said.
Trice is expected to be in court for a pre-trial conference on Thursday, July 13.
