(WWJ) - The man accused of kidnapping and strangling a Lansing toddler has agreed to plead guilty to the charges.
According to a copy of the plea agreement, Rashad Trice, who is accused of kidnapping 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith, has agreed to plead guilty to the federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison. There is also a fine up to $250,000.
As a result of the plea agreement, dated on March 21, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan agreed to drop the other federal charges Trice was facing.
On July 2, Trice took Cole-Smith from her Lansing home following a fight with her mother. He stabbed and sexually assaulted the mother before taking the toddler. He then drove Cole-Smith from Lansing to Detroit in a Chevy Impala.
Trice “repeatedly played a YouTube video on the internet in an attempt to pacify the victim,” according to the plea agreement.
Cole-Smith was taken to an alley between Olympia Street and Edgewood Avenue in Detroit where she was strangled by Trice with a pink cell phone cord. She was found several days later in the alley.
The plea agreement also stated that Trice would pay restitution. The amount will be set during sentencing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office previously said they would not seek the death penalty.
A date for Trice’s sentencing has not been set.