‘A MONSTER’

Man Allegedly Strangled Abducted 2-Year-Old Girl to Death With Phone Charger

Parts of the phone charger were “recovered with the body” of Wynter Smith and in the car the suspect allegedly stole, authorities say.

The man charged in the kidnapping and murder of Michigan 2-year-old Wynter Smith allegedly strangled the girl to death with a pink cell phone charging cord, according to a criminal complaint released Friday. The complaint alleges Smith’s mother got into an altercation with ex-boyfriend Rashad Trice in which she stabbed him “in self-defense” before he stabbed her multiple times and sexually assaulted her. The mom fled the home, leaving behind her daughter, who vanished by the time local police could arrive, the complaint states. Trice then allegedly stole the family’s car, but was stopped by authorities only a couple hours after the Amber Alert went out. The same day, the FBI searched the car and “found a significant amount of blood,” presumably from Trice’s wounds, and “portions of a pink cell phone charging cord,” feds say. Smith was not found in the car, but police said her body was discovered in a Detroit alley. Parts of the phone charger were also “recovered with the body,” the complaint says, but a medical report on the official cause of death is still pending. When the FBI interviewed Trice, he said “I’m already a monster” and expressed that he was suicidal, according to the complaint.