Trinity's 10th birthday: Community remembers girl shot, killed in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Family, friends and community members gathered Wednesday evening to mark what would've been the 10th birthday of the young girl who was shot in the head while jumping on a trampoline in north Minneapolis last May.
Pink and blue "Happy Birthday" balloons, handwritten messages, and candles lit up the memorial of Trinity Ottoson-Smith, located on 52nd and 4th Street. On May 15, Trinity was jumping on a trampoline at a friend's birthday party with other children when she was struck by a bullet in the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue North. Nine-year-old Trinity passed away after being hospitalized for nearly two weeks.
"Since then, our family is broken, absolutely broken," Trinity's grandfather Randy Ottoson said. "There are no words to say how much we miss her… It just goes on day after day after day."
Trinity's grandfather described her as "an absolutely shining light."
Trinity Ottoson-Smith passed away last May from her injuries nearly two weeks after she was shot while jumping on a trampoline. (Family)
Trinity was one of three children who were shot in the head in north Minneapolis within weeks of one another. 6-year-old Aniya Allen was shot and killed while eating McDonald's in her mom's car. Then-10-year-old Ladavionne Garrett Junior was shot in the head while riding in the car with his parents and is continuing to recover. The families are still looking for the people responsible.
"And it's not just Trinity. It's Aniya. It's Ladavionne. And we don't forget Terrell from ten years ago too," he said. "They're all in our prayers, and we think about them all everyday."
Three children were shot in Minneapolis over a span of a few weeks last spring, two of whom died from their injuries. (Families of Ladavionn Garrett, Jr., Trinity Ottoson-Smith, Aniya Allen )
A $180,000 reward has been offered for information on the three children shot in Minneapolis. There have been some leads, but no arrests in the three unsolved shootings.
"There's someone out there that knows. There's people that are not talking. Those are the people that we need to step up," Ottoson said.