JUL 8, 2023
Rashad Trice assaulted Symari Cole while she held baby Wynter Cole-Smith in a May 2021 incident in Monroe, according to a police report.
www.freep.com
The man accused in the kidnapping and strangling of 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith was so jealous of the toddler's father that he once threatened to kill him, the child's mother told police two years ago, according to a report obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
Rashad Maleek Trice had dated Wynter's mother, Symari Cole, for about a month when in May 2021 she told police he pushed her during an argument while she was holding the then 3-month-old baby girl. The two were arguing about Wynter's father while house sitting for Trice's uncle in Monroe for the weekend.
The gruesome details of 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith's killing sparked fierce outcry throughout Michigan.
www.freep.com
In a mournful gathering on Erwin Street, near the east-side alley where a missing toddler was found dead this week, a crowd of Detroiters held their fists in the air and yelled, "We will do better," a chant that started small and quickly grew to an intense collective cry.
It was a promise to Wynter Cole-Smith, a missing 2-year-old from Lansing whose body was discovered just two days prior. It was a promise to remember Wynter, to not let her killing go without action from the community.