“Worst Cooks in America” Season 20 winner Ariel Robinson found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for beating her three-year-old foster daughter to death

When you choose to adopt a child it is just that–a choice. There is no “accidentally” ending up with a foster child. One chooses to adopt and care for the child, pledging that they will be protected and have their needs met. To turn around and violently beat your foster child to death is inherently a premeditated cruelty.

In one of the most cruel scenarios imaginable, the season 20 “Worst Cooks in America” winner Ariel Robinson was found guilty of beating her three-year-old foster daughter to death. Now sentenced to a life in prison, Robinson had viciously beaten her daughter, Victoria Smith, to the point that her blood vessels burst, causing blood to collect in her muscles and body fat and to ultimately lead to her death.

Robinson and her husband, Jerry, were first arrested in 2021 after Victoria’s death. Jerry pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse. He testified that the beating endured by Victoria that night was brought on by the child throwing up and their way to church that morning.

From the Daily Mail:

Two witnesses, Jean Smith and Avery Santiago, testified on Wednesday that they saw Ariel washing Victoria’s dress in the church bathroom that day. Asking if the child was sick, Robinson told Smith “[The girl] eats too much and makes herself throw up. [It’] a game.”

“I was frustrated,” Ariel testified on Thursday when asked about the incident at the church.

It was not the first time Ariel had lost her temper over Victoria’s eating habits, according to Jerry, who testified that his wife would beat the child with a wooden paddle or a belt.

A history of abuse was apparently present from Ariel’s social media posts, according to her biological great-aunt.

“I knew something was wrong by looking at her social media so why couldn’t [social workers]?”

While it is true that social workers often are not as responsive as necessary in cases of severe and repeated abuse, the blame for this heinous crime should lie squarely on the perpetrator, who has received a sentence of life in prison for her disgusting actions.