MINNIAPOLIS – A Minneapolis man with ties to an area gang has been charged for the shooting death of nine-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith during a drive-by shooting, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Thursday. At the time of the shooting, the victim was playing in her backyard when she was struck by a stray bullet.
Dpree Robinson, 19, was charged with a single count of intentional second-degree murder for the shooting that killed the victim in North Minneapolis in mid-May 2021.
He is scheduled for his first appearance Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m.
“The sadness that comes with this arrest and charge is the reminder that an innocent nine-year-old child was shot and killed last year while playing on her trampoline,” Freeman stated. “I cannot express enough sympathy to her family and loved ones.”
“Now that our office has the case, I can definitively say that we will do our part in the criminal justice system, and prosecute the defendant to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I also want to commend the BCA for the superb job they did investigating this case,” Freeman said.
According to the criminal complaint, on May 15, 2021, Minneapolis police went to the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue North in response to shots fired picked up by ShotSpotter activation. When they arrived, officers found the female victim fatally shot in her backyard.
Video footage from the area showed the incident was a drive-by shooting. The intended targets can be seen on a side porch of the house, with the trampoline between them and the shooter, Robinson.
After the shooting, video captured one of the men on the porch running after the car Robinson was driving, a 2014 Ford Fusion, and firing three shots. Three 9mm cartridges were found in the alley where the man shot at the vehicle, the complaint says.
Over the course of the investigation, officers learned that Robinson purchased the car on May 12, 2021, and told the man from whom he bought it to say nothing about the purchase of the car. It was also discovered through surveillance footage, or license plate reader (LPR), that Robinson’s cell phone was in the same area as the vehicle, the complaint states.
After the shooting, Robinson searched the internet for ways to change the paint on a 2014 Ford Fusion, and then stopped using his cell phone entirely, the complaint says. Despite a nation-wide search for his car, it was never found. The last known appearance was on May 15, 2021, after the shooting occurred.
Search warrants executed on Robinson’s social media accounts revealed he posted that he was an active shooter for the Black Disciples Criminal Street Gang, and made references to guns, shooting, and the “opps,” which is street slang for “opposition” or “rival gangs,” the complaint states.
In addition, Robinson had exchanged social media messages with his girlfriend, A.H., in which she referenced him as a “child killer,” and stated, “i hope you die for killin that lil girl.”
Further investigation found that Robinson had engaged in threatening social media communications with a male resident at the house where the victim was shot.
In February 2022, investigators spoke with a witness who told them that Robinson admitted to being at the house when the shooting happened, the complaint states.
Additional surveillance footage reviewed contained audio which showed that the victim was shot prior to the return gunfire from one of the intended targets. And, the return shots occurred after the man ran past where the victim was struck, with him in the alley pointing his gun at Robinson in his car as he drives away from the scene, the complaint states.
View the complaint for Dpree Robinson (PDF)
