Ariel Robinson, a Food Network contestant accused of killing her foster daughter in their South Carolina home, said Wednesday that she plans to take the stand in her murder trial, according to local reports.
Robinson, 30, and her 35-year-old husband, Jerry "Austin" Robinson, were arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse in January 2021 following the death of their 3-year-old foster daughter, Victoria "Tori" Rose Smith, Greenville County records show. Austin pleaded guilty last month to aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse.
Ariel Robinson's trial began Monday, and on Wednesday, the "Worst Cooks in America" season 20 winner told Judge Letitia Verdin that she plans to take the stand herself, according to FOX Carolina.
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said last year Smith died as a result of blunt force injuries, according to a medical examination.
FOOD NETWORK'S 'WORST COOKS IN AMERICA' SEASON CUT AFTER WINNER CHARGED WITH CHILD MURDER
Prosecutors argue the Robinsons fatally beat the 3-year-old on Jan. 14, 2021, when police found the girl unresponsive in their home. Greenville County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Ward, a forensic pathologist, testified that the toddler was beaten with such force that her blood vessels burst, allowing blood to collect in her muscles and fat, which could have led to her death, FOX Carolina reported.
"If we lose enough blood, the heart doesn’t have enough volume to pump," he said.
Austin previously told authorities that the fatal beating stemmed from Jan. 13, 2021, when he said Tori threw up on the way to a church service, and Ariel became angry at the child.
Witnesses Jean Smith and Avery Santiago testified on Wednesday that they saw Ariel and an undressed Tori in the church bathroom as Ariel tried to clean the girl's dress in a sink. Smith said she asked Ariel whether Tori was sick, and Ariel apparently told her that the child "eats too much and makes herself throw up," calling it "a game."
BLACK LIVES MATTER SUPPORTER TWEETED ABOUT CHILDREN'S WHITE PRIVILEGE PRIOR TO ALLEGED CHILD MURDER
Santiago testified that she heard Ariel say to Tori, "'Oh, you’re cold. You’re cold. Girls that make themselves throw up deserve to be cold,'" according to FOX Carolina.
Austin, who took the witness stand on Tuesday, testified that Ariel would become angry with Tori's eating habits and beat her with belts or a wooden paddle.
"Sometimes I’d take a piece of (her) food just to help her out," the 35-year-old testified, FOX Carolina reported.
He also recalled the last conversation he had with Tori before her death.
"She was laying on the bed," Robinson testified. "She told me she loved me, and I said, 'I love you too.' I said, ‘I promise this won’t happen again.' She said 'Okay.'"
Airel, a former teacher, won $25,000 upon winning the Food Network competition, which pits amateur cooks against each other in a series of cooking challenges overseen by celebrity chefs, Deadline reported.
Episodes of her season are no longer available to stream on Food Network's online platforms, including Discovery+, Hulu and YouTube.
In a Twitter thread posted on Jan 6., Robinson said that while her Black and White children were treated the same in her house, it will "not be the case" when they go out into the real world.
"It’s a shame that as a proud mom to 4 beautiful boys, I can’t protect them from the reality and evil of this world once they leave the house. However, I will fight and use my voice to make a difference. To bring awareness and change so that one day, that change will come," she continued. "I’m a Mama Bear, & I’ll do anything to protect my children & make sure their futures are equally bright [because] they have the same opportunities & are treated as equals the way God made them. There should be no #whiteprivilege only American privilege. #EqualityforAll #BlackLivesMatte[r]."
Listen to the 911 call in the fatal crash involving a Cape Coral motorcyclist and a truck driven by Bonita Springs Fire Chief Greg DeWitt.
The chase began very early May 12 and ended in Racine County, police said.
FacebookThe woman who last summer discovered the bodies of a newlywed couple in Moab, Utah says that police told her recently they had begun to doubt her story—until Wednesday night, when authorities publicly identified someone else as a suspect.In the meantime, Cindy Sue Hunter lived in constant dread of being framed for something she didn’t do, and became a pariah in her neighborhood, she told The Daily Beast on Thursday.Hunter, 64, found the remains of Kylen Schulte, 24, and Crystal Beck, 38,
District Judge William LaFortune has sentenced David Ware to death.
Police in central California were searching for the driver of a pickup truck that struck a woman walking her dog Friday and kept going, dragging her more than 8 miles (13 kilometers) to a hotel parking lot, where she was found dead. The 29-year-old woman was pushing a shopping cart and had her dog on a leash when she was hit by a gray or silver pickup truck at the intersection of Herndon and Millburn in Fresno, said Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley. The man kept driving with the woman trapped under his truck and stopped at a hotel, where he parked in the parking lot, got out of the pickup truck and went to the lobby to ask for a room, Dooley said.
The case drew international attention.
A Boston Public Schools teacher was hospitalized after a student threw “boiling hot” ramen-noodle water on her face and the school’s principal wouldn’t call 911, according to a police report.
"They're making us out to be unkempt, uncouth, that we don't follow the rules," Marshette Foster told The Charlotte Observer.
A father drops his groceries in the store after getting a frantic text from his 16-year-old daughter during shooting at Dreyfoos School of the Arts.
Hidden cameras inside an Alpharetta hotel room captured the interaction of undercover detectives with two young women, ages 19 and 20.
Conlin Weyer appeared before a Madison judge Friday in federal court for his involvement in the Jan 6 riot in Washington, D.C.
The body of a Texas mother has been found nearly a week after she went missing. Angela Leann Mitchell, 24, of Dickinson, Texas, was last seen on May 5 by a friend in nearby Texas City, KHOU-TV had reported. She was reported missing the following day by her mother, Georgia Mitchell, after she failed to return home to her four children. On Wednesday, a Texas City resident called 911 to report what they said was a smell coming from a car parked on the 400 block of 4th Street North, KTRK-TV reports.
Josh Duggar's attorneys pleaded for a light sentence and cast their client as a victim, complaining that "Duggar's life has already been shattered."
According to reports, the unidentified man hit a rock while leaping from a cliff in Majorca, Spain. The moment was captured on video by his family.
A two-hour hearing Thursday was marked by several outbursts by the defendant resulted in Lee County sheriff taking owners of the dog in question
Authorities said the suspect faced three charges of possession of a controlled substance in 2021, but completed a program and the charges were dismissed.
SONIA LUKASHOVA The first war crimes trial against the occupiers has begun: Russian Vadim Shishimarin is accused of killing a civilian in the Sumy region. Source: "Ukrainska Pravda" correspondent from the courtroom Details: The case will be heard by the bench of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv.
He rear-ended a car so hard that a 2-year-old passenger in that vehicle, who was properly restrained in a car seat, suffered multiple facial and skull fractures.
Several people were arrested on Hampton Beach Friday night after officers dealt with a number of ‘large, unruly crowds’ formed on the beach.
According to police, the suspects used three vehicles, including a modified pickup truck that had an external fuel tank.