A man has entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder in connection with the murder of 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith. The youngster was killed as she jumped on a trampoline at a friend’s birthday party and was hit by a stray bullet.
Dpree Shareef Robinson, 20, entered his plea in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 6, according to a Hennepin County Attorney’s Office news release. For the murder of the child in May 2021, he could receive 37.5 years in prison.
According to a press statement from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, Trinity was playing with friends and enjoying the outdoors. She said that Robinson’s acts stunned their city, although she is glad his admission of guilt begins to offer some measure of closure for Trinity’s family and the community.
The criminal complaint claims that Robinson shot at a house from a neighboring alleyway, and one of those shots injured Trinity as she bounced on a trampoline with friends in a backyard. According to police, the incident was a gang-related drive-by shooting, and Trinity and her friends were trapped between Robinson and his intended targets.
Robinson had been threatening a member of a rival gang who resided at the home where the girl was shot.
After the shooting, Robinson claims he was “confused,” wondering if he was responsible for the girl’s death, and did not turn himself in. Police were able to apprehend him after identifying his vehicle on surveillance video. Robinson’s cell phone records also connected him to the area on the day of the shooting.
Trinity was taken by ambulance to North Memorial Health Hospital, where she underwent two weeks of intensive care before passing away from her wounds.
