*On Friday a South Carolina judge set bond for the husband of the Food Network star accused in the death of their 3-year-old foster daughter.
We previously reported, Ariel Robinson, winner on Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America,” claimed at her bond hearing in February that the couple’s 3-year-old foster daughter, Victoria Rose Smith, died after drinking too much water.
Robinson, 29, was charged in January along with her husband, Jerry Robinson, in the death of Smith. On Jan. 14, police found the child unresponsive in the couple’s home in Simpsonville, South Carolina. The coroner determined Smith’s cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries. The couple has been charged with several counts of homicide by child abuse.
Ariel’s bail request of $40,000 was denied in February, according to Fox Carolina. Per Winston-Salem Journal, Judge Letitia Verdin set bond at $150,000 for Jerry, with the condition that he be under house arrest with GPS monitoring. He’s also to live with his parents and have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.
Ariel reportedly told first responders that the child drowned from drinking too much water, and that the bruises on her body were likely caused by the failed Heimlich maneuver performed on the child amid fear the girl was choking, according to WYFF4.
Jerry has denied physically abusing the child. He claimed his wife would “spank, beat her with different things, including a belt, paddle, flip flop or whatever,” said Assistant Solicitor Christy Kednocker Sustakovitch.
Ariel remains jailed at the Greenville County Detention Center. She won $25,000 in the latest edition of “Worst Cooks in America.” Season 20 of the cooking competition was filmed last February and aired later in the year. After news of her arrest, the season was yanked from Food Network’s Discovery+, Hulu and YouTube.
