*Ariel Robinson, former winner on Food Network’s “Worst Cooks in America,” claimed in a bond hearing on Friday that her 3-year-old foster daughter, Victoria Rose Smith, died after drinking too much water.
We previously reported, Robinson, 29, was charged last month 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 now faces counts of homicide by child abuse, per PEOPLE.
When Robinson appeared before a judge virtually on Friday, her bail request of $40,000 was denied, according to Fox Carolina. Check out the video report below.
READ MORE: ‘Worst Cooks In America’ Champion Charged with Child Murder [VIDEO]
“Based on the seriousness of the charges and the egregious nature of the allegations in this case, I do find the defendant in this case is a flight risk or does pose a substantial danger to the community, most particularly to the children who are in her custody, and potentially even to herself,” the judge said in the hearing, PEOPLE reports.
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 reportedly did not appear in court but made a statement in which he denied physically abusing the child. However, 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.
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