A South Carolina woman who won season 20 of “Worst Cooks in America” has been charged with homicide in the death of a three-year-old girl.
Ariel Robinson, 29, was arrested along with her husband, 34-year-old Jerry Robinson, in connection with the death of Victoria Rose Smith. She was a foster child living in the couple’s Simpsonville home, per The Sun. Her death was ruled a homicide due to the multiple blunt force injuries that she suffered.
“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 tells PEOPLE. “It is a sad day. You bring charges and maybe convictions, but at the end of the day the life of a child was taken. For anyone who knew the victim or was related to the victim, they are in our thoughts and prayers.”
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Victoria Rose was reportedly found unresponsive at the couple’s home on Jan. 14. She later died from her injuries at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Cops said the Robinsons “did commit child abuse by inflicting a series of blunt force injuries, which resulted in the death of the victim”.
The Robinsons each face a charge of ‘homicide by child abuse’ and 20 years to life in prison if convicted. They are being held at the Greenville County Detention Center after bond was denied during a court hearing this week.
Ariel Robinson won $25,000 when she was named the winner of the Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America last August. She told Greenville News that would use some of the winnings to take her family on a proper vacation.
“I want to take them to a waterpark resort or the beach. A vacation, so we can do one big thing as a family this year,” the mother of five said.
“I’m gonna pay my taxes and pay my tithes and cover all the basics,” Robinson shared. “Then we are going to try to get some debt paid off and use it for our adoption.”
She also joked about her family’s new appreciation for her cooking.
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“I’m no longer the worst cook in American and my family will not let me live that down either,” Robinson told the publication. “It’s like what are you cooking today?”
“I’m like y’all remember that time when you didn’t like my cooking, let’s go back to that.”
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