Dpree Robinson files motion to withdraw guilty plea in shooting death of Trinity Ottoson-Smith
MINNEAPOLIS -- The man charged in the shooting death of 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
Dpree Robinson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March but is now requesting to withdraw his plea, stating he was under the influence of drugs at the time.
The court filing claims Robinson did not knowingly waive his trial rights.
Robinson had allegedly been suffering pain from a hernia and was taking sleep and pain medication at the time.
"Mr. Robinson had a hernia surgery four days prior to the plea and was still on oxycodone and he was not truly realizing the choices he had regarding the plea because of his chemical use," the notice says.
During the plea hearing, Robinson was asked if there was nothing impeding his mental state, to which he responded "no." The motion argues that his response indicated there was something impeding Robinson's mental state.
Robinson says his memory of the day he entered the plea is fuzzy and that if he had an unimpeded mental state, he would not have entered the plea.
The day before Robinson was scheduled to be sentenced, his attorney filed a motion to withdraw as his counsel
Details about the case
Ottoson-Smith was jumping on a trampoline at a friend's birthday party in north Minneapolis when she was struck by a stray bullet on May 15, 2021. She died 12 days later in the hospital.
For nearly a year, authorities were not able to charge anyone in connection with her death. But a break came last February when Robinson's friend told police he had admitted to being in a shootout with rival gang members. Robinson told his friend he saw that a girl had been shot, and he was "confused. He didn't know if it was them, or it could have been him," the complaint states.
Robinson had been making threats on social media to a rival gang member who lived at the address at which Ottoson-Smith was shot, investigators said.
The complaint says Robinson may have purchased a suspect vehicle - which was captured on surveillance video - three days before the shooting. Robinson's cell phone records also tied him to the area on the day of the shooting, the complaint said.
Investigators said a review of the surveillance footage shows Ottoson-Smith was shot before the return fire occurred, and additionally, the return fire was shot away from Ottoson-Smith's location.
Ottoson-Smith was one of three young children struck by stray bullets in north Minneapolis in a span of three weeks in the spring of 2021.
