9-year-old Girl Struck by Gunfire in North Minneapolis Dies at Hospital
Trinity Ottoson-Smith, 9, in an undated photo shared by family.
UPDATE: Police announced an arrest in this case on Feb. 23, 2022
A nine-year-old girl who was shot in the head in north Minneapolis earlier this month has died of her injuries, family members said Thursday.
Trinity Ottoson-Smith had been hospitalized in critical condition for nearly two weeks.
Aniya Allen, 6, in an undated photo shared by family.
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder confirmed the news around 8:30 p.m. Ottoson-Smith is one of three children who were shot in north Minneapolis within weeks of one another.
Ladavionne Garrett Jr., 10, who is recovering from his injuries.
Officers were called to the 2200 block of Illion Ave. N. just after 8:30 p.m. on May 15 after reports of gunfire heard in the area. One of the first officers on scene immediately transported Ottoson-Smith in his squad car to the hospital—breaking department policy—due to the severity of her injuries.
Ottoson-Smith died just after 4 p.m. Thursday at the hospital, Elder said. "For the last 12 days, she fought for her life and today that fight ended,” he said at a media conference. With her death, Minneapolis records its 33rd homicide of 2021 so far.
A Facebook post shared by Ottoson-Smith’s father read, "Our baby Trinity passed today. God got her now."
"Our officers who showed up at this scene with the nine-year-old girl critically injured with a gunshot to her head knowingly violated policy by picking this girl up, running her to the squad and taking her to the hospital, doing what they could to save her life. That's who the Minneapolis Police Department is," Elder said.
Ladavionne Garrett Jr., 10, was shot in the back seat of his parent’s car on April 30. He is still recovering from critical injuries, Elder said. Aniya Allen, 6, who was also shot in the head, died of her injuries at the hospital May 19. Aniya was the granddaughter of longtime peace activist K.G. Wilson.
Police have not announced any arrests in connection to the three shootings. Authorities and city leaders announced a $30,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the cases.
UPDATE: Police announced an arrest in this case on Feb. 23, 2022
