11 July 2023
ST. PAUL The man convicted of fatally shooting a 9-year-old girl who was jumping on a north Minneapolis trampoline in 2021 was sentenced Tuesday to 37 years in prison.
D’Pree Shareef Robinson, 20, received his sentence in Hennepin County District Court for the death of Trinity Ottoson-Smith, who was on a backyard trampoline at a friend’s birthday party when she was shot in the head on May 15, 2021. She died 12 days later at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale.
Robinson, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty on March 6 to second-degree intentional murder, meaning he avoided trial on a first-degree premeditated murder count that carries a sentence of life without parole.
However, Robinson on April 18 filed a motion to withdraw his plea, saying he was under the influence of pain pills at the time he agreed to the 450-month sentence. A judge denied the motion last week, finding there was insufficient evidence to support his claim.
“No family should be forced to endure all that Trinity’s family has these past two years,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a Tuesday statement following the sentencing. “After losing Trinity in a devastating, senseless act of gun violence, they have faced multiple delays getting legal closure on the criminal case against the person responsible for this tragedy.”
According to the criminal complaint, 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 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.
Officers later learned that Robinson purchased the car three days prior. His cellphone was in the same area as the car at the time of the shooting.
Robinson searched the internet for ways to change the paint on a 2014 Ford Fusion, then stopped using his cellphone entirely.
Search warrants executed on Robinson’s social media accounts revealed he posted that he was a shooter for the Black Disciples street gang, and made references to guns, shooting and the “opps,” which is street slang for “opposition” or “rival gangs,” the complaint states.
Robinson also had exchanged social media messages with his girlfriend 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 girl was shot.
Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension arrested Robinson on Feb. 22, 2022, in Minneapolis, and he was charged with second-degree intentional murder. Last July, a grand jury indicted him on three counts of first-degree murder.
]]>