Food Network star Ariel Robinson’s Friend speaks

One day after 3 years old Victoria ‘Tori’ Rose Smith was killed, her adoptive mother Ariel Robinson – who is now accused of her murder – sent her friend a message on Facebook.

The friend, who wanted to be called “Jill” in this story for the privacy of her family, had plans to see Robinson at her home in Simpsonville, South Carolina, that weekend.

Robinson, who is best known for winning the 20th season of “America’s Worst Cooks on the Food Network, was filming a new cooking show for his YouTube channel and Jill would be a guest.

“I’m sorry that we are going to cancel for tomorrow. I’ll be in touch, ”Robinson sent a message to Jill on January 15th.

Ariel did not mention anything about the nightmare that occurred at her home a few hours earlier – 3-year-old Tori, who she was supposed to officially adopt the following week, died suddenly.

Less than 24 hours before she sent a message to Jill, Ariel Robinson’s husband called 911 and told dispatchers that Tori choked on water around 2 pm on January 14.

Five days later, Ariel and Jerry Robinson were charged with child abuse homicide.

That night, Jill’s father called and told him the news.

“In fact, I argued with my own father and told him that there was no way he could see Ariel on the news for something like that,” said Jill. “I was literally in shock, especially after Ariel and I just talked about my daughter and Tori playing together a few days before everything happened.”

Jill has been in shock since she heard the news. A month later, she is still removing the layers from the box.

At Friday’s hearing, the prosecutor presented disturbing details of the case, including:

• Early respondents said Tori’s body was covered in bruises and deep abrasions.
• Ariel told the police that Tori vomited the night before and choked on the water that Jerry gave her that afternoon.
• Ariel said she did cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the heimlich maneuver on Tori when she was suffocating.
• When the police questioned Ariel about the bruises all over Tori’s body, Ariel blamed Tori’s biological brother and said he had anger issues. The police found this to be false after talking to the boy’s director.
• After the arrest, Jerry Robinson told police that Ariel beat the 3-year-old boy with a belt, paddle and other objects.
• Jerry Robinson said he was outside when the beating occurred, but when he saw Tori’s body, he looked at his wife and said, “You went too far.”

“After hearing the details that the prosecutor gave, I am able to better understand the idea that she is guilty,” she said. “It is still super emotional and I am heartbroken for the other children and all the families involved, because no one foresaw it.”

Jill said she was surprised by Ariel’s cold reactions at the bail hearing on Friday.

“The only time she was touched was when she was denied the bond and heard about Austin (Jerry) making a statement against her,” said Jill. “I don’t know if the lack of emotions came from being isolated in prison or if it’s something with her mentally.”

Ariel Robinson’s Story

Jill has known Ariel Robinson since they were children. She said Ariel grew up in a loving, religious home with a strict father.

“She tended to be a bully in the early years of elementary school, but in high school she was the girl everyone was friends with,” said Jill.

Ariel gave birth to her first child when she was in high school, said Jill.

After Ariel and her husband Jerry had their second child, Ariel spoke openly about how she wanted a girl on social media. Jill said she remembers the couple preparing to adopt a newborn baby girl in 2019.

“I remember them having everything ready for the baby and just before the baby was born, the mother changed her mind about giving up the baby,” said Jill. “I remember Ariel being so heartbroken.”

Jill was one of many who supported the Robinsons’ GoFundMe account for adoption.

“Shortly thereafter, she announced that she was going to adopt three children and that she needed additional funds for adoption,” said Jill.

Financial problems

The Robinson home has been in foreclosure since 2019, according to court records. They stopped making house payments in 2018.

According to court documents, the COVID-19 eviction ban allowed the Robinsons to stay in their homes throughout 2020.

Between the foreclosure and the GoFundMe adoption account, it should be obvious to SCDSS that the Robinsons couldn’t afford three children, said Jill.

At the bail hearing on Friday, the prosecution dropped a bomb on the case – Ariel and Jerry had not yet officially adopted Tori and his brothers. On social media, Ariel always made it look like the adoption was over.

“I wonder how the foreclosure and hearing would have happened if the adoption hearing had taken place,” said Jill. “I wonder if DSS is not doing complete financial checks before allowing adoptions to happen. There are so many questions about the system and whether people are being thoroughly checked before they are able to promote / adopt. “

According to Tori’s biological mother, the three brothers were in the custody of the SCDSS partly because she was unable to find housing.

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On social media, Ariel Robinson seemed to have it all. She had the house, the husband, the five children. And suddenly she was hit by 15 minutes of stardom and some quick cash ($ 25,000) after her victory on Food Network’s reality TV in August.

Ariel seemed to be exploring his fleeting fame on TV for whatever was worth it. She posted on her social media accounts several times a day and hosted a weekly podcast with her husband.

Looking back on Ariel’s social media now, Jill remembers thinking something was wrong.

“Literally, almost every day, you saw a post about Tori,” said Jill. “I always found it weird that she always posted Tori and rarely posted the boys, and if she did, it was all four boys together, never just Tori’s brothers.”

Like so many others who are now scouring Ariel’s social media accounts for clues, Jill also noticed how many times she “joked” about Tori in a way that looked mean.

On social media, Ariel often refers to Tori as “the threenager”. Ariel said in her podcast that Tori was older than her age and “had an attitude”. She also called Tori an “evil genius”.

In several Instagram posts, Ariel Robinson “joked” about having feelings of jealousy for his daughter.

In the post below, Ariel refers to Tori as “a little heifer” after Tori said she was Daddy’s princess, not mommy’s princess.

Jill said at the time, she thought it was just part of Ariel’s mood.

“Now, knowing what happened, it is extremely disturbing and makes me wonder if these ‘jokes’ were really true and were not jokes,” said Jill to FITSNews.

SCDSS Reform

Jill learned a great lesson from all of this.

“It’s crazy how you spend your whole life thinking you know someone, but in reality, you don’t know anyone,” she said. “You never know what a person is trying to cover up in his life.”

Like so many others following this case who are heartbroken by Victoria Rose Smith, she wants to know why SCDSS was not paying much attention to the Robinsons.

“I think it opens up a world of opportunities for DSS reform in South Carolina as well,” she said. “Of course, they need to come together and I hope this is a lesson for lawmakers that it is time for new laws that protect children and do not allow them to be put in danger.”

After the tragedy, Victoria Rose Smith’s biological family publicly pressed for reform of the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS).

More than 38,000 people signed a petition initiated by the biological family calling on state lawmakers to reform the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) – an agency marked by scandals whose flaws are now in the national spotlight.

The murder of Victoria Rose Smith has drawn a lot of national attention in recent weeks. On Wednesday, Nancy Grace covered the tragedy in her podcast.

Nancy Grace hammered the SCDSS on her podcast after hearing the details of the case.

“Do we just distribute the kids like a dozen eggs in the supermarket?” Grace asked.

To report child abuse in South Carolina, call 1-888-CARE-4-US or use this online portal.

We hope to bring more details to this case in the future. Stay tuned.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Mandy Matney is the news director at FITSNews. She is an award-winning Kansas journalist who worked for newspapers in Missouri, Illinois and South Carolina before moving to FITS. She currently lives on Hilton Head Island, where she enjoys life on the beach. Do you want to contact Mandy? Send your ideas, comments, suggestions and tips for stories to [email protected].

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