11 days after 3-year-old Victoria “Tori” Rose Smith was beaten to death by her foster parents, the Simpsonville, SC Police Department finally released a heavily redacted police report that gives very little information in the case.
The death of the foster child at the hands of “Worst Cooks in America” reality competition winner, Ariel Robinson, 29, and her husband Jerry Robinson, 34, made headlines around the world.
The police report was obtained by FITSNews on Monday. Nearly every line in the report was redacted, leaving more questions than answers.
A fire department crew was the first to arrive at the scene in response to a 911 call about an unresponsive child on January 14.
The fire department immediately suspected child abuse and put in a call to the police department for child abuse/aggravated assault and emergency protective custody at 2:25 p.m., according to FITSNews.
Police interviewed Ariel Robinson first. Nearly the entire interview with Ariel was redacted, except for the part where she told police that something happened the day before.
Ariel told her husband to call 911, according to the report. The 911 dispatcher instructed Ariel to move the child to the floor and begin chest compressions only.
By the time police arrived, Tori had already been transported the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police also interviewed Jerry Robinson, but he invoked his right to counsel and refused to answer any questions. The Robinsons were both charged with homicide by child abuse around 2:20 p.m. on January 19. — five days after Tori died.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigating the case per South Carolina law when the unexpected death of a child is involved.
Social media sleuths dug into Ariel’s internet history to find more details about her.
She is best known as the winner of Season 20 of “Worst Cooks in America” on the Food Network. The network scrubbed Season 20 from the internet on Monday.
According to Ariel’s website, she was a middle school teacher. Her teaching license was suspended in 2019. She was also an aspiring stand-up comedienne, radio host and TV personality who frequently referred to herself as a mother of five.
The Robinsons adopted Victoria “Tori” Rose Smith and her two older brothers in December 2019. On Christmas Day, she wrote on Facebook:
“This Christmas, my family was given the best news ever!! We are growing our family by 3!!! We were chosen by the agency and called by God to take in 3 precious siblings who will be joining our family soon!”
The Robinsons also had two boys prior to the adoption.
In a podcast episode, Ariel joked about punching her two sons in the throat while social workers were visiting the home during the adoption process.
She also talked about her anger management problem, saying she had anger inside of her.
She talked about how people can “snap,” saying “If you get angry today and fly off the handle, punch somebody, kill somebody, assault, murder, you are one bad decision away from ruining the rest of your life,” she said.
In a podcast episode that aired in November, Ariel said she was no longer suicidal and she didn’t want to hurt others, because she likes her “freedom” too much.
“This is the first year I’ve literally and specifically prayed to God ‘can you just let the rapture take place?'” Ariel Robinson said. “I literally hate it here. I literally hate this earth.”
The Robinsons are being held without bond at the Greenville County Detention Center, according to Fox Carolina.
