🔐 Behind the story: Karen Drew reports on police video showing chase, arrest in Wynter Smith case

“I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison” -- that’s how the video ends.

We’ve seen police chase videos; we’ve seen arrests, but this video was different. Different, perhaps, because the body cameras on the St. Clair Shores Police were recording not only a chase of a suspect in a kidnapping, but also the frantic search for the missing 2-year-old.

As you watch the video, you can sense the pain and anguish in the officers’ voices as they desperately try to find Wynter Smith.

---> Watch police arrest, question Wynter Cole Smith’s accused kidnapper

In the WDIV newsroom, we spent a lot of time talking about the story and the video – what should we show, what we should not -- and in the end, we decided to air the video in its entirety, bleeping out the profanity. We thought it was important to show the chase, the interaction with police, why officers tased him, and what the suspect said to officers.

“Where is the baby?” one officer asked. Rashad Trice responds, “She is in Lansing with her mom.” At that point, officers don’t know where the child is. Two days later, her body will be found in a Detroit alley. The cause of death, according to the complaint, was strangulation.

Watching the officers search the car is heartbreaking, especially as a parent. You think to yourself, “Where is this little 2-year-old? Are there signs or clues inside the car to her whereabouts?” You can see the car seat in the back, and you are left wondering.

Then, the moment that really made my heart pound inside my chest was when officers surrounded the trunk. You knew what they were thinking. There was a chance Wynter was inside that trunk. They open it up, and it doesn’t take long to realize she is not there. You can hear a frustrated gasp come from an officer.

As we went through the video and listened to what Trice had to say to officers, you hear him complain about his hip, his eye, his hand. But what caught my attention is what he said next. After officers asked, “Other than being involved in a recent car accident, are you okay?” Trice says he is not. The officer tells him, “We are going to get you treatment and get you to the hospital.

“Okay, fair enough.” Trice says, “Will I be OK?” The officer says, “I think you will be. You have a long road ahead of you.” Trice says, “I know, tell me about it.” The officer says, “You will be OK.” Then Trice says, “I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison.”

At that moment, officers don’t know where Wynter is. The public is still holding out hope. The searches continue. Trice does not cooperate with the police. As we have reported, two days later, she is found in a Detroit alley, recovered with her body, pink cellphone cord parts consistent with the pink phone cord found on the floor of the Impala Trice was driving.

--- > Everything we know about the Wynter Cole Smith case