'God got her now': Second of 3 children shot in Minneapolis dies

Trinity Ottoson-Smith, the 9-year-old Minneapolis girl shot in the head May 15 while jumping on a trampoline, died Thursday at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale.

After fighting for her life for 12 days, Trinity died Thursday evening, according to a social media post from her father, Raishawn Smith.

"Our baby Trinity passed today," he wrote, adding several images of a broken heart. "God got her now."

Trinity's stepmother, Korrina Smith, wrote, "They took our girl from us. They robbed Trinity of the beautiful life she was living."

Minneapolis police were informed of the girl's death at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to a news release.

Trinity was shot about 8:30 p.m. May 15 in the Jordan neighborhood while playing with other children on a trampoline. Police have said that the shooter was in a red four-door Ford vehicle that drove down an alley in the 2200 block of N. Ilona Avenue before firing at a residence.

"She was doing what innocent kids do," Raishawn Smith said during a recent vigil outside North Memorial. "She was caught in the crossfire of senseless violence."

Trinity was one of three children gravely wounded when they were shot in the head in recent deadly gunfire in Minneapolis. Their families have been pleading with the public to help police identify the shooters and bring them to justice.

Trinity's death marks Minneapolis' 33rd homicide of the year.

Several vigils have been held outside North Memorial for her and the other two children who were shot.

Ladavionne Garrett Jr., 10, was shot April 30 while riding in a vehicle in Minneapolis. He remains hospitalized.

Aniya Allen, 6, died May 19, two days after being shot while riding in her mother's car.

Aniya's mother, Antrice Sease, has said her daughter, a kindergartner at Cityview Community School, loved rainbows and unicorns. They two had just left a McDonald's and were driving through the intersection at N. 36th and Penn avenues when a gun battle broke out and Aniya was shot.

Aniya was the granddaughter of longtime anti-violence activist K.G. Wilson.

"Minneapolis has now lost two babies — Aniya and Trinity — to gun violence this month," Phillipe Cunningham, who represents the North Side on the City Council, tweeted late Thursday. "This is beyond devastating. I share in the grief that grips our community ...

"We can get the policies right, but we also got to get our hearts right as a city," he continued in his Twitter thread. "Someone chose high lethality bullets and to shoot into a backyard full of children. Mothers and their babies are in the crossfire. This violence is wrong. Our city is better than this. ...

"Aniya and Trinity's lives matter and them dying matters, too. Every person in this city should also be mourning the loss of these little girls. Every person should be outraged. No matter where this violence takes place, we can never let this be normalized."

Recently, a group of Minneapolis businesses announced a $30,000 reward to people who can provide information leading to an arrest or conviction in the cases of the three children who were shot.

Staff writer Pamela Miller contributed to this report.

Alex Chhith • 612-673-4759