(KNSI) — An accused Minneapolis gang member is now charged with first-degree murder following the shooting death of nine-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith as she played in a friend’s backyard last May.
Nineteen-year-old D’pree Shareef Robinson was arrested in February and formally charged with second-degree murder. A Hennepin County grand jury upped those charges to first-degree murder on Friday.
Investigators say Ottoson-Smith was jumping on a trampoline at a home on the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue North on May 15th, 2021, when she was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. According to the criminal complaint, Ottoson-Smith was “directly between the shooter and the intended targets, who appeared to be three males on the side porch of the residence.” The intended target was a rival gang member who was Robinson’s ex-girlfriend’s brother. Robinson is reportedly a member of the Black Disciples street gang.
Ottoson-Smith was rushed to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, where she died 12 days later.
Search warrants filed last June show an alleged conversation between Robinson and a woman who referred to Robinson as a child killer and told him, “I hope you die for killin that lil girl.” A witness also reportedly told police Robinson admitted to being at the scene but didn’t know if bullets from his gun or another gang member hit Ottoson-Smith.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Robinson faces an automatic life sentence.
Another child, six-year-old Aniya Allen, was shot on May 17th, 2021, while riding with her parents in the 3500 block of Penn Avenue North. She died two days later at Hennepin County Medical Center.
No suspects have been arrested for her death.
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