Man sentenced in murder of 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith

Trinity Ottoson-Smith gunman sentenced

More than two years later, a Minneapolis man has been sentenced for the drive-by shooting of 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith in 2021.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Minneapolis man was sentenced on Tuesday morning for the drive-by shooting of 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith in 2021.

A Hennepin County judge sentenced 20-year-old Dpree Shareef Robinson to 450 months (37.5 years) in prison with credit for 504 days for second-degree murder.

Police say the 9-year-old was jumping on a trampoline in the backyard of a friend's home on the 2200 block of North Illion Avenue in Minneapolis on May 15, 2021, when she was shot in the head.

Trinity Ottoson-Smith's father speaks after guilty plea in daughter's murder

Dpree Shareef Robinson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Monday, the day his first-degree murder trial was slated to begin, in the murder of Trinity Ottoson-Smith in May 2021.

Trinity was rushed to the hospital where she died 12 days later. Investigators say it appears to be "an unintended target of a gang-related drive-by shooting."

Robinson was initially charged with second-degree murder, but a grand jury indicted him on three counts of first-degree murder. In March 2023, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but on April 18, Robinson attempted to withdraw his guilty plea and wanted to go to trial. He claimed he was on oxycodone after hernia surgery and was not in his right mind when he pleaded guilty.

A Hennepin County judge denied the request on July 7 and proceeded with sentencing on Tuesday.

Crime and Public Safety Minneapolis