The man behind a gang shooting that killed 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith in north Minneapolis was sentenced to 37½ years Tuesday, more than two years after the tragic slaying of the child as she was jumping on a trampoline with friends.
D'Pree Shareef Robinson, 20, pleaded guilty in March right as his trial was set to begin. Three weeks ago he tried withdrawing that plea by claiming he was under the influence of pain pills when he waived his right to trial and agreed to a lengthy sentence for murder in connection with the May 15, 2021, shooting in the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue N.
Hennepin County Judge Julie Allyn wasn't persuaded by the argument then or on Tuesday when Robinson again tried to say he was not guilty and had been pressured into the plea under his previous attorney. Despite that, he added that he's sorry and heartbroken about Trinity's death.
"I did not have nothing to do with this young girl's death," Robinson said. "Your honor, can you please give me a chance to take my plea back and give me a chance to fight my case?"
Allyn said she already had ruled the plea was knowingly and intelligently made.
"Now regretting what your sentence could be is not the same thing," she said. The judge also allowed for a sentence longer than suggested by guidelines because the shooting was made in the presence of children.
"Shooting seven times into a group of children just jumping on a trampoline, just trying to have a normal day at a birthday party, does mean that your conduct was significantly more serious than an average shooting and does justify the additional time," Allyn said.
Robinson's sentencing was standing-room-only, attended by scores of Trinity's family and friends all wearing T-shirts memorializing her life and calling for justice.
Sobs echoed in the courtroom during victim impact statements from Trinity's father, Raishawn Smith, and stepmother, Korrina Smith, who read letters from siblings and Trinity's best friend Avayla, whose birthday Trinity was celebrating when she was shot.
"I don't have my best friend. Instead she's above me," Avayla's letter read.
Korrina Smith said that Trinity was raised by a village and had a promising future.
"Trinity was so much more than the little girl shot on North," she said.
Raishawn Smith approached the judge while cradling a large, framed image of him holding his newborn daughter Raina on the day she was born, with Trinity looking over her new baby sister.
"I was so nervous about the relationship she would develop with her new sibling because she was such a daddy's girl. When I saw this picture I knew she was here for it. She loved her siblings, all of them."
Smith said he stood there in pain, "not for myself, but my family and the community that knew her."
"I'd give anything to have my baby back," he said.
Robinson will serve about 25 years in prison, with credit for time already served, as state guidelines require that two-thirds of a criminal sentence be served in prison and the remaining third served on conditional release.
He was charged last February with one count of second-degree murder. A grand jury in July indicted him on three counts of first-degree murder, including one that specifically says the killing was committed for the benefit of a gang.
Prosecutor Joshua Larson said that young men are far too eager to shoot each other despite the consequences. And while Trinity was the unintended victim, he said the shooting was no accident, as Robinson has described.
"Trinity was taken from us because the defendant intentionally tried to kill someone," Larson said.
Robinson committed the drive-by shooting directed at three men on a porch. Larson said he disregarded a trampoline full of children between him and the gang rivals.
A bullet struck Trinity in the head. She died in the hospital 12 days later.
In the span of three weeks in 2021, three children were shot in the head on the North Side. Ladavionne Garrett Jr. was struck April 30 while riding in a vehicle, and Aniya Allen, 6, was shot while riding in her mother's car. She died two days later, on May 19.
Trinity's killing is the only one that has resulted in an arrest and now a conviction.
A reward of up to $180,000 is being offered for information about the unsolved shootings.
"What a blessing to have the opportunity to bring justice for my daughter," Smith said. "But this is only one case. There's so many more kids that need this, so many more families that need this ... who have lost a child or had a child hurt wrongfully in the community that they live in, the community that they grow up in — or are supposed to grow up in."
Ladavionne's grandmother, Sharrie Jennings, attended Robinson's sentencing in support of the family and to raise awareness of her grandson's case.
She said he remains unable to walk or talk and has brain surgery scheduled after his 13th birthday in October.
"Justice will be served and we're coming," Jennings said. "One down, two to go."
