Gang member pleads guilty in 9-year-old’s murder – Law Officer

MINNEAPOLIS – Gang member Dpree Shareef Robinson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder this week in the May 2021 death of 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith. Robinson is expected to receive a 37-year prison sentence, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Robinson wasn’t arrested until February 2022. According to a criminal complaint, on May 15, 2021, Ottoson-Smith was struck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting while jumping on a trampoline with her friends.

The trampoline was situated between Robinson and his intended targets who were sitting on a porch at a residence on the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue North in Minneapolis.

The complaint says Robinson described himself as an “active shooter for the Black Disciples Criminal Street Gang” on social media.

Robinson’s intended target, identified in the complaint as W.J., was a member of the Money Chasing Demons, a rival street gang.

Roughly 30 minutes after the shooting, Robinson conducted three Google searches related to changing a vehicle’s paint color. Despite an extensive, nationwide search, the 2014 Ford Fusion he used in the shooting “appears to have vanished,” according to the complaint.

Police obtained social media messages between Robinson and his girlfriend in which she describes him repeatedly as a “child killer.”

“I hope you die for killin that lil girl,” she said in one of the messages, according to the complaint.

The shooting was also captured at a distance on a surveillance camera.

Robinson’s sentencing is scheduled for March 21.

Two other children were struck by gunfire in 2021 in Minneapolis. Ladavionne Garrett Jr. was shot and severely injured while riding in a vehicle on April 30 on the 3400 block of N. Morgan Avenue. Aniya Allen was shot while riding in her mother’s car at the intersection of N. 36th and Penn avenues. She died two days later. Police are still looking for the people responsible for shooting Garrett and Allen.

Patrick Larenz Dembley is currently in prison for a different shooting but was in possession of a gun linked to Allen’s death.

This article originally appeared at Alpha News.