The Season 20 winner of “Worst Cooks in America” apparently joked about child abuse before she was arrested for killing her 3-year-old adopted daughter.
According to TMZ, 29-year-old Ariel Robinson performed to a small crowd in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 2019, when she discussed how her oldest sons misbehaved during a social worker’s visit to her home. She claimed the social worker needed to make sure she was a fit parent before allowing her to adopt.
“Shut up before I come in there and punch in your throat!” Robinson said, referring to her sons.
Robinson also said she should have locked her children in cages, which was met with a mixed reaction from the crowd.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a judge denied bond last week for Robinson, and her husband, Jerry Robinson, 34. Both suspects are behind bars facing homicide by child abuse charges.
According to court documents, authorities found the couple’s adopted daughter, Victoria Smith, unresponsive at the couple’s Simpsonville home off of Sellwood Circle. The little girl later passed away at the Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Robinson, a mother of five and a former teacher at Sanders Middle School in Simpsonville, is known for winning Season 20 of Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America.”
“I just know that the Lord had his hands on me and he had a purpose for me to go on there,” Robinson said this summer before winning $25,000 from the show. “He knew we were going through this adoption, we really could use the money and he just let everything work out for our good.”
Since the arrest, Food Network has pulled the entire latest season that crowned Ariel Robinson as the winner, Deadline reports.
Ariel Robinson told Greenville News last year that Victoria and her two siblings moved in with her and her husband in March. The Robinsons reportedly adopted all three children.
Tiffany Huggins told NBC 4 that she fostered Victoria for around 10 months before the Robinsons adopted her.
“When she entered a room, all eyes were on her, because she demanded it and she was a cutie,” Huggins said, adding that Victoria had a contagious smile and loved to sing and ride her bike.
The South Carolina Department of Social Services released a statement Wednesday, following the news of the couple’s arrest.
“The South Carolina Department of Social Services is aware of allegations and the arrests made and is investigating along with law enforcement. The agency’s standard procedures in a case like this involved taking appropriate action with any children remaining in the home after evaluating safety and risk.”
SLED, local authorities, and the coroner’s office are currently investigating the case.
“Police officers handle all kinds of cases, and these kind of cases can be the hardest for them to do,” Simpsonville police spokesman Justin Lee Campbell said in a press statement.
“You bring charges and maybe convictions, but at the end of the day the life of a child was taken.”
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[Feature Photo: Victoria Smith/Facebook]
