Reality star foster mum beat daughter to death over her eating habits

Daily Record

a day ago

Ariel Robinson subjected Victoria Rose Smith to the ordeal just days before she and her husband officially adopted her.
A reality TV star beat her foster daughter to death in a horrific ordeal which caused burst blood vessels and internal bleeding.
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Ariel Robinson, 30, who appeared on a series of Worst Cooks in America, was ultimately crowned the winner for showing the most improvement, walking away with a prize of $25,000.
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She revealed the funds would go towards her family, and the three children she planned to adopt with her husband, with whom she already had two sons.
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The teacher, from Greenville, South Carolina, and her husband Jerry, 35, fostered Victoria "Tori" Rose Smith, three, and her two brothers, aged five and seven. In January 2021, they were days away from formally adopting Victoria, the Mirror reports.
On January 13, Robinson took Victoria to church, where she was sick down her dress. A member of the congregation asked if she was ill, which Robinson replied with claims she often ate too much and made herself vomit, before making the youngster leave the church without her dress on.
Robinson was heard saying: "Oh, you're cold. You're cold. Girls that make themselves throw up deserve to be cold."
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The next day, Jerry called emergency services claiming their daughter was unresponsive. He said: "She drank a lot of water. We tried to do CPR to get it out."
Paramedics found Victoria unconscious in her bedroom. Robinson said she feared she had choked after drinking a large amount of liquid. They discovered bruises all over her, which Robinson initially said might have been caused by CPR, before blaming them on Victoria's seven-year-old brother, who she claimed had "anger issues".
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She was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unable to save her due to the severity of her injuries. A post-mortem examination revealed her cause of death to be blunt force trauma and internal bleeding.
She had been beaten so badly her blood vessels had burst, causing blood to collect in her muscles and fat and eventually restrict the blood flow to her heart, likely resulting in it stopping.
When police interviewed the parents, Robinson continued to blame Victoria's brother, but it became clear he wasn't physically able to inflict such damage.
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Jerry revealed his wife was responsible, with the incident starting when Victoria had been sick in church and angered Robinson.
On January 19, the couple were arrested, and the TV series featuring Robinson removed from the Food Network channel. In April 2025, Jerry admitted aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse, and agreed to testify against his wife.
At Robinson's four-day trial this year, the court was shown images of Victoria's horrific injuries. Her biological family attended wearing blue ribbons as a symbol of child abuse prevention, and were visibly upset by the evidence.
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Jerry told the court his wife would often lose her temper and take out her frustrations on their foster daughter. Her outbursts included beating her with a wooden paddle and belts, especially in response to her eating habits.
He described how the morning after the church incident saw Robinson giving Victoria a "whooping" that lasted around an hour. He recalled entering the house to discover her using a belt on the youngster.
He said: "I told her, 'You went too far this time and I should have stopped it."
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Defending herself, Robinson said Victoria was a "perfect child" with no behaviour problems. She added: "She was my mini-me. She used to talk like me, act like me. She wanted to be everywhere I went."
She admitted she was "frustrated" at the church incident, as they were running late before Victoria vomited on herself. However, she accused her husband of having one of the "scariest types of anger issues", stating: "He holds everything in, and he doesn't let it out and when it does come it, it's too much because he bottles it up."
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The defence said in their closing arguments that Jerry had "cut a deal" for a reduced sentence, and his testimony was not credible. Prosecutors said Robinson had "lost it" and was guilty. They said: "The evidence is clear and if you believe her, she failed to act."
In May this year, Robinson was found guilty of homicide by child abuse, and sentenced to life in prison. The judge remarked: "In my 13 to 14 years as a judge, I've never seen anything like this. Not even approaching it."
In June, Jerry received a 20-year sentence. He told Victoria's family: "I am truly sorry for all of this. I hope that one day you all can forgive me."
They criticised social workers for failing to spot signs of the abuse. They claimed to have seen pictures of Victoria on social media with visible bruises, but nothing was done in response to their reports.
They are now calling for a reform of the foster care system, including better screening procedures for potential families.