LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty in the case of a 27-year-old man who is charged in the kidnapping and strangling 2-year-old Wynter Smith.

The one-sentence decision, filed in federal court in Grand Rapids, comes three months after Rashad Trice  was indicted on those charges.

MORE NEWS: Detroit Schools Employee Health Insurance Costs: $79.1M in 2026

In addition, Trice is facing state homicide charges. Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has charged Trice with first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder along with 18 other charges stemming from three different counties and consolidated in one case in Ingham County.

Trice is accused of stabbing and sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend in Lansing on July 2. Police say he then drove away with her daughter, Wynter. Officials released an Amber Alert which spurred a search involving multiple agencies.

Federal prosecutors have argued Trice abducted Wynter and fled as “retaliation” for a fight between him and her mother.