Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - AMERICA'S WORST COOKS REALITY STAR BEATS 3-YEAR-OLD daughter dead. Family of little Tory Rose TALKS TO NANCY .

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

Ariel Robinson, a past winner of the reality show "Worst Cooks in America," is jailed on homicide by child abuse charges. The 29-old and her husband, Jerry Robinson, 34, are charged with the death of 3-year-old Victoria Smith.An autopsy report indicated that Victoria died from multiple injuries caused by blunt force trauma. She had deep purple bruising on her abdomen, face abrasions, bruising on her back and ears, and bruising down both legs.Joining Nancy Grace today: Michelle Urps - Victim's Great Aunt www.change.org/JusticeForVictoria Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor, author “Red Flags” www.wendypatrickphd.com 'Today with Dr. Wendy' on KCBQ San Diego Dr. Jenn Mann - Marriage and Family Therapist, Host 'Couples Therapy' on VH1, "The Dr. Jenn Show” on Sirius XM, Author: "The Relationship Fix."   Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet" featured on "Poisonous Liaisons" on True Crime Network  Daphne Young - National Chief Communications Officer, www.Childhelp.org, @childhelp Levi Page - Crime Online Investigative Reporter, Host, "Crime and Scandal" True Crime Podcast, YouTube.com/LeviPageTV   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Do you love the Food Network? Because I do. I could watch it all day long. I look at all the contestants on various food programs, the best chef, the junior chef. My children love it, especially my daughter Lucy, who is quite a chef herself. So it was quite a surprise when I-year-old little girl, Victoria, that she, the Worst Cook in America winner, had taken in to her home as the foster child. This little girl was covered in deep purple bruises all over her body.

I don't know why so many of us are lulled into a false sense of complacency or familiarity with people we see on TV. Who are these people? Who is this woman? Let's start with a 911 call. We're in McKinney, number one. What's the location of the emergency? We have an emergency. Our daughter is not, is unresponsive. She's drunk a lot of water. We're trying to help, like CPR to get out. Our daughter is not. It's our response. If she's drunk a lot of water, we're trying to poke my CPR to get out. What addressing that? I'll get you over to EMS to hang up. Yeah, that's the fire with the address of your emergency? Okay. And the phone number you're calling me from?

Is anyone there tested positive for COVID-19 or had high risk exposure to COVID-19 positive patients? No. Tell me exactly what happened. My 3-year-old daughter is choking on water right now. Your 3-year-old daughter is what? Choking on water right now. We need help immediately.

Okay. We'll get help on the way. Okay. so is she coughing like choking or no she's not underwater she's not coughing but she's choking on water wow i've never heard of your body being totally covered in deep purple bruises from choking on water, but yet in the same breath, he says, no, she's not choking that she is unresponsive because she quote drank a lot of water. Then she suddenly choking on water, but yet she is not coughing. Okay. I would have a field day with that. How, how, 53 seconds of BS. BS.

That 911 call is a lie. I mean, just the first seconds of it, you can tell that's a lie. Again, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. And I want answers to what happened to a three-year-old little girl. This family insisted they bring into her home to, quote, complete their family. Now she's dead, and I guarantee you it is not because she drank too much water. With me, an all-star panel to try to make sense of it. First of all,

CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, also with Crime and Scandal True Crime podcast, Levi Page. Daphne Young, a special guest joining us, the National Chief Communications Officer at Child Help Organization. Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, death investigator, Joseph Scott Morgan. Dr. Jen Mann, Marriage Family Therapist, host on VH1, The Dr. Jen Show on SiriusXM, author of The Relationship Fix on Amazon. Wendy Patrick, California Prosecutor, author of Red Flags on Amazon, host of Today with Dr. Wendy on KCBQ. And very special guest joining us, Michelle Erps.

This is little Victoria's aunt, and you can find her at change.org slash justice for Victoria. And you can say that again. To Michelle Earps. This is Victoria's aunt. Miss Earps, how did you learn that this beautiful little girl, just always this big, beautiful smile, was dead? We found out on January the 19th when the Robinsons had been arrested. It was five days after Victoria's death. We found out because the news story broke and people that knew us were sending us messages and asking, hey, is this your Victoria? So you found out five days after she was dead? Yes, ma'am. When you first learned this three-year-old little girl was dead, did you know how she died?

Based off of the news stories, we got a pretty good idea. It wasn't until we, you know, started getting more into this. You know, I'm confused about something. Daphne Young, National Chief Communications Officer with ChildHelp.org. When you put a child, a helpless little baby girl like this, in a foster home, what, nobody goes by to check and see what's happening? Did nobody notice the child was being mistreated and covered in bruises by the worst cook in America winner?

This was one of my first concerns when I heard about this story, because we have a rigorous process that involves teachers and doctors, the foster parents, the biological parents, and a whole host of people who are professionals at ChildHelp who check in on that child, who look after that child. And when you first look at this case, okay, you've got a reality TV star who was a teacher and did charity work and had CPR certification and promoted an equity household and shared the children all dressed up for charity. Wait, you're going so fast. Wait. What did you say? What's an equity household?

Well, she was talking about children of different races living together in harmony. She was talking about the children going to church together. And one of my concerns when I see that and something that we would have looked at is that social media presence, because we ask our foster parents to keep these kids off of social media. This is not your story. This is their story to tell. And we want them to be safe. Wait a minute. Hold on. Daphne, we've gotten a ton of photos of little Victoria with the quote worst cook in America. Just FYI, if you guys didn't already know this, the show takes 12 to 18 contestants referred to as recruits through a culinary boot camp to earn a cash prize. The winner gets $50,000. The other contestants, apparently there's a $25,000 prize.

In any event, you're going to get between $25,000 and $50,000 from what I can tell. So this is a woman that's been on TV, made it through this whole reality show to get, we think, $25,000 or $50,000. And there's tons of pictures of her online with baby Victoria. And they're smiling. And I mean, she looks nothing like she did in her earlier pictures because her hair is pulled back very tightly. But she's in all these pictures of them in front of a Christmas tree, big smiles. Well, you know, actually, Jackie, if you look at this Christmas tree photo, Victoria's not smiling. A lot of the other people are smiling, but Victoria is not smiling. So all this is on Facebook, Daphne, and you're saying they're told not to post? Absolutely. We tell our foster parents these children are in the system. They deserve their

privacy. They deserve their own past and their own future. So we ask them to keep them off social media. We have check-ins. We have check-ins with the child specifically so that there's no other person around when we talk to that child. So what happened between all of this posting and supposed check-ins to this sweet little girl, this sweet little Tori Rose? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We are talking about the brutal death of a three-year-old little girl that goes into the home to live with the winner of a reality show, Worst Cooks in America, bringing home a purse of $25,000 to $50,000, we think. Speaking of the postings, Daphne Young, I'm going to throw this to Michelle Earps. This is Victoria Rose's aunt. I'm looking at all these postings. She's got bruises on her in these postings. I'm looking at one where she's got a black eye, a three-year-old

little girl, and another one, she's got a bruise on her neck. And I guarantee you, Joe Scott Morgan's going to look at this one. I guarantee you're going to be able to get finger marks on her neck. Did you know this, Ms. Earps? Did you have any idea about these photos of her online? And she's got bruises, visible bruises? No, we did not know anything about those. The last time we saw these children, because it was Victoria and her two brothers that were in this home, last time we saw them was in February. They were placed in this home for adoption,

and it was a closed adoption. There was no contact. We did not know who they were, where they were, or anything. Had we known and seen all this, we would have alerted DSS immediately, hey, what's going on? The kids have bruises like crazy. There were pictures posted. She even had them on TV at one point. There's a picture that I have seen that she had on one of her social medias where Victoria was asleep in a TV studio and she had commented about how everyone thought she was such a good little girl. You know, it just turns my stomach. Turns my stomach. Go ahead. I'm sorry. There's also one picture oforia that you can see a bruise that is all the way around her wrist it doesn't look like a handprint it's a very even bruise all the way

around her wrist like maybe she had been restrained at some point a three-year-old little girl tiny tiny little angel. Straight out to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. You can also find him at Crime and Scandal, True Crime Podcast. Levi, just start at the beginning. How did this monster get a hold of this little girl? She adopted Victoria in March of last year. Hold on. Wait. Adopt? I thought for a moment that this was a foster situation. Daphne Young.

She was the foster parent. But you said adopt. And actually, the adoption was to be finalized according to what we heard when we were at the bond hearing last week. It was going to be finalized the day that they were arrested. Okay, this is what I want to know. Daphne Young, who do we just hand out children like they're a dozen eggs at the grocery store? Here, you can have one. You can have one. You can have one. And to go through an adoption, isn't that a lot more intensive scrutiny and an intensive process? It's just like they're handing out children to

foster care without looking into the home. And I thought they had to go through all sorts of hoops to finally formally adopt a child. And even I can find this on Facebook. I didn't even really look that hard. And here are pictures of her with bruises. They don't look online. Unfortunately, they're supposed to go through lots of hoops. We have a very system at Child Health, but we've actually added extra rules that are just our founders absolutesutes that have nothing to do with the law, including 24-hour on-call support for these children.

But this is a situation where it looks like it just passed through screener to screener. There was a double life being led. And so many children are just taken out of a house sometimes for small things like neglect or, and that's not small, but in terms of the abuse that they sort of suffered and went through it, and it appears that happened in this home, boy, it would have been wonderful to just get the family some great services and support reunification in this case because it was horrifying. It doesn't take a lot to find pictures of this little girl online covered in bruises around her neck,

a black eye. I don't think either one of my children, they just turned 13, have ever had a black eye. Knock on wood. So how does she have so many bruises online? And DFACS, Department of Family Children's Service, didn't even bother to look. And they're going to adopt these children in. And the day of the adoption, the parents are arrested for murder. Wow. That's some flawed process. But who is this woman? Who is the, quote, worst cook of America that brings home tens of thousands of dollars off a reality show, painting an entirely different picture?

I'm going to go back to you on that, Dr. Jen. Don't let me forget, because in these Facebook photos, a lot of them, they're presented as perfect family. Oops. What about the bruises? But I want you to take a listen to Jarvis Robertson, Fox Carolina. Listen. Aria Robinson says being a competitor on Worst Cooks in America was a confidence booster and also educational experience. She told me earlier today they did film back in February in New York before the pandemic started. Now she's just happy to be home and her life has changed for the better.

But now I truly am not the worst cook in America. But she is the winner of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America Season 20. Yes, I am putting mayo in a glove. Aria Robinson lives in Simpsonville. She's a wife and mother of five and a big fan of the show. She told me through the years she's been teased by her husband and her sister because

of her cooking. After some thought, Robinson decided to submit to become a contestant. You don't have thick skin being in this family. Your feelings might be hurt, but when you done hurt at all, it was just another day. She describes the experience as a surreal moment for herself, trying something new and exciting, but on a grand stage. Well, she's about to try something real and new and exciting behind bars for the rest of her life. If we have anything to do with it, this child covered in bruises.

She may no longer be the worst cook in America, but by God, she may be the worst mother in America to stand by and let this happen to her child or even beat the child herself. How was this child covered in so many bruises? Jessica Morgan, just hearing her voice all happy and jubilant, sitting on that pile of money she got from that reality show, is just like nails on a blackboard to me. How badly was this child beaten? Beaten badly, Nancy, as you had mentioned, you know, she's covered in bruises and these bruises are, in my estimation, not all fresh. This is an ongoing event that has been going on for a while.

And one of our guests just a moment ago had mentioned this kind of linear bruise that she had around her wrist. Can you slow down, please, for all of us that aren't death investigators, that have not been to about 10,000 death scenes? Just slow down just a little bit. Jackie's having a really hard time understanding what you're saying. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Jackie.

Yeah. You know, our guest a moment ago had mentioned this bruise around the wrist. That could very well be a restraint mark, but let me throw out something else to you. When you're struck with a belt, many times I've actually seen belts wrap around appendages and it will leave a mark around this area. Now, this is a fragile little girl, Nancy. I mean, she's tiny, diminutive, looks like a little angel, and you're going to use this kind of force over a protracted period of time. She's going to be suffering physically on a myriad of levels here.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, I want you to take a listen to Taggart Huck at WYFF News for a listen. Arielle Robinson sat down with WYFF News for an August after winning the Food Network show Worst Cooks in America. She told us then the winnings from the show would go a long way to help her and her husband, who recently adopted three more children. I just know that the Lord had his hands on me and he had a purpose for me to go on there. The former middle school teacher was an aspiring comedian booked by Justin Williams to perform at a Pickens County barbecue event back in November. She was hilarious. She was super sweet to everybody around her. And she expressed the passion for working with children and working, you know, with just the community in general. Really? Because in the day that little three-year-old Victoria died, Ariel, we're not on a first-name basis,

29-year-old mom Ariel Robinson allegedly beat the three-year-old girl with a belt. You know what? I'm against gun violence, but if I caught my husband with a belt on one of my children, there would be a shootout like you would not believe. A belt on a three-year-old little girl? Dr. Jen Mann, you're the family therapist. What is happening?

Well, obviously child abuse. And I think that unfortunately in this country, there are a lot of families who feel like it is acceptable or somehow okay or justifiable or disciplined to hit their children and hit them with paddles, with belts, with all kinds of things. And it really is a very slippery slope. And what we found is that there was a study that was done by the Injury Prevention Research Center. They found that only 2% of mothers who didn't spank their children reported physically abusive kinds of punishment, whereas 6% of mothers who said they spanked, compared to 6% of mothers who said they spanked their children. Then when we looked at parents who spanked their children using objects, the odds of the child being abused went up to 12%. So it really is like a gateway drug to very serious child abuse. And I think that for far

too long in this country, families have found that hitting a child to be a form of discipline, and it's not. All it does, best case scenario, is scare the child, and that does not teach discipline. It harms cognitive development. All of the studies are showing this. It doesn't teach children to respect. It teaches them to fear, and you run the risk. Parents get out of control. There's nothing to trigger a parent like a child. And parents don't realize their strength. Adrenaline is going. And parents do horrible things. And terrible things happen to children where they get injured or even die. You know, to Daphne Young, National Chief Communications Officer, I'm thinking about this three-year-old girl that was beaten with a belt. A belt. Did

you hear what Dr. Jen Mann just said, Daphne? Absolutely. And not just a belt, but a flip-flop, a paddle. And I quote her by adopted father. He said a flip-flop, a belt, a paddle, whatever. That meant whatever's at hand, this child was being abused by. I agree wholeheartedly with both of you. Corporal punishment does nothing but shame a child. They don't teach them anything. But what shocked me is it seems like this poor little girl was just grabbed and beaten with whatever was at hand in a moment of fury. I'm telling you, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags. Take a listen to this. Our cut 12 a. This defendant told first responders that Tori

drowned by drinking too much water. The firefighters can also see unexplained excessive bruising on her body, deep purple bruising on her abdomen, judge bruising on her body, deep purple bruising on her abdomen, Judge, bruising on her ear, abrasions on her face, bruising down her back and up and down both legs. Purple bruising on abdomen, finger, face, back and up and down both legs. Wendy Patrick, what about it? I'll tell you, you know, at first glance, if you just came to the house and saw this and took the photos and showed them to somebody, they would say, yep, this is child abuse. This is a pattern of bruising in different stages of healing. You know, Joe Scott said something that I've seen and you've seen in our cases over the decades is this pattern of consistency over time. And when the pattern includes literal pattern injuries, by that I mean marks that are consistent with objects like a belt or, God forbid, an iron or something that

wraps around and constrains the blood vessels, that would indicate child abuse. But did it in a case like this? I mean, this couple, I mean, this is not the, these are not the ax murderers next door who seemed nice, but kept to themselves. I mean, these were public figures. We're talking about reality show stars, not the kind of figures you would expect to be involved in child abuse. So sometimes if injuries are observed in a family that you would never suspect would contain abuse, we start looking for excuses. Well, what else might have happened? And the wherewithal to lie about it, Joe Scott Morgan, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University,

death investigator, to tell 911, first of all, that she basically drowned because she drank too much water, and then say she was choking because she drank too much water and then say she was choking because she drank too much water, but not coughing. My point is it's inconsistent with the forensic evidence on the child's body, but the wherewithal it took to lie about it. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's obvious physical evidence that's going to present before these medical professionals that show up. You know, where the EMTs are getting there. They're thinking, you're saying that she's taking on too much water. But how in the world does this child have all these bruises?

And let me tell you one more thing here, Nancy. First off, I refuse. I don't care what you say to me. I refuse to refer to her as a mother of any kind at this point in time. As far as I'm concerned, this reality show thing that she's got going on, she's a prop master. And that's the purpose she was using. This woman had a master's degree in education from Clemson University, Nancy. Average pay in South Carolina, $53,000 a year.

That doesn't include benefits. Why in the hell is she not employed? That's my question. You know, what's going on with the other kids in the house? I think she's setting these kids up and that's why she can dehumanize them. That's why she can take a flip flop. As the father said, she could take a belt. She can take a wooden spoon. She can take anything she wants to. And she beat this poor little angel as much as she wants because she doesn't care. The child is a prop for her. So she can abuse her any way

that she wants to. And it's sad. This child wound up, I can almost guarantee you, with some kind of closed head injury. That's why she started drifting off. Nancy, she probably had a bleed within her brain, and can you imagine the suffering this child endured? I mean, she's already away from her family. She's been, you know, placed here with these folks who are treating her nothing more like some kind of object. And she dies all alone. To Michelle Earps, this is little Victoria Rose's biological aunt. Michelle, when you hear the suffering, and you know the day that Victoria Rose, just three years old, was beaten dead, you know that was not the first time.

This child had to have been living in a house of fear ever since she got put there. Yeah, you could see it in the pictures. Victoria's smile never reached her eyes. And one of the pictures that is posted a lot I absolutely hate is her holding Victoria in her lap, and they have matching clothes, and Victoria's leaned away from her. I have a five-year-old daughter. There is not a single picture of me holding her that she's pulled away from me. She's leaning in.

There are pictures of her with my family holding her, and she's leaned in. She was, you know, I mean, it was awful. And at the bond hearing, because we were there at the courthouse for that, and at the bond hearing, whenever I was hearing all this and heard that he had come in and told her she had gone too far. She sent him to the store to get stuff to bring down bruising that you can buy over the counter. I didn't even know such a thing existed, but they did. They gave her an Epsom salt bath and everything like that. And the only thing that I could think of that breaks me to this very second is how long was she suffering before they called for help? How long did she suffer? And if they had called for help right

away, would she have made it? So they actually, this woman, the reality star Ariel Robinson, sends the husband, 34-year-old Jerry Robinson, out to the store to get anti-bruising, anti-swelling meds to bring down all the bruises on. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. Yes, apparently there's stuff you can buy over the counter for such things. We also know that the, quote, worst cook in America reality show winner claims that Victoria Rose suddenly went limp and she, Ariel, began the Heimlich maneuver. Ariel also claims she started pressing on the child's stomach and that that is the reason she had her husband call 911 and that that is the reason the baby is covered in bruises. Take a listen to our cut 12B. Police talked with this defendant to get an account of what Tori's day was like, Judge, on January 13th and then the 14th leading up to when

this defendant, rather the co-defendant called 911. This defendant told police that the night before, Tori had thrown up on the way to church, but that after that, they went home. She had no real issues, and yet she went to sleep. Then the next morning, this defendant says that Tori ate pancakes. While she and her husband, this defendant, and her husband were home alone with the child, and the other four boys, this defendant's two other biological children, and Tori's brothers, went to school. She outlined to police that Tori started asking for a water judge, and that the co-defendant filled up her cups the whole time.

That's all a lie. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We were talking about the brutal beating death. I'm not a medical examiner, but I know that's what this was, of a three-year-old little angel girl, now dead. In the 911 call, you hear daddy claiming she drank too much water and died. Then you hear him say she was coughing on water, choking on water, but not coughing. It gets worse and worse and worse. You just heard that the so-called mother said the little girl, just three years old, had 12 cups of water, which led to her death. But take a listen to what the lead detective has to say, our Cut 13. The lead detective on the scene,

investigator Scott McGaugh, began to ask additional questions about the extensive bruising that was all over Corey's body and asked this defendant, how did that get there? As to the abdominal injuries, this defendant stated, quote, I did that. And then she also said, quote, I was pushing really hard. The officer continued to ask about the extensive bruising up and down her back, her body and both legs. Mr. Bennett then stated that the victim's seven-year-old biological brother had anger issues and had caused those injuries. The officer asked what a seven-year-old possibly used to cause such extreme bruising, and Mr. Bennett stated he'll And now you hear the so-called mom and dad blaming the Bio brothers, also being adopted into this family, to the victim's biological aunt, Michelle Earps.

Now we hear them blaming her brothers for beating her dead? Oh, yeah. That makes me really angry because the one that they blamed, he is probably the sweetest, most docile, loving child ever. And he would never, I've never seen him raise a hand to anyone in anger at all, ever. And honestly and truly, he's seven years old. He's not strong enough to cause as much damage as what was done to Victoria. And if he was hitting her, why didn't they step in?

These people are 200, 300 pounds each. You can't tell me they can't stop a seven-year-old. And that brings to mind Daphne Young, National Chief Communications Officer with ChildHelp.org. You know, when JonBenet went missing and people insisted that the brother was responsible for her death, that never made sense to me statistically. That is extremely rare, very rare. I mean, if you look at the brother Burke, he was pale and thin and frail looking.

JonBenet looked like she had so much life to her, she could have probably snapped him in half. I never understood people's claims of sibling murder. It's statistically highly unlikely. Same thing here. I don't believe that for one minute. Plus that morning, according to them, she's sitting at the breakfast table eating pancakes. And I want to point out, she says the brothers were at school at the time and that she chokes on water or drinks too much water. But now they're trying to blame the brothers that were at school. It's crazy, Nancy. And I'm first of all, Michelle, I'm so sorry to hear your tears and to have you sit here and participate and listen.

And I know that you're speaking on behalf of Tori Rose, and we so appreciate you being here and sharing your heart. You know, this blaming of the little perpetrators, had a history of this manipulation, showing a beautiful face of friends and family and love to the cameras. And then behind the scenes, it sounds like a house of horrors. That brings me to another question. Dr. Jen Mann, family therapist, host of The Dr. Jen Show and SiriusXM, author of The Relationship Fix. I could go on and on. Dr. Jen, why Sirius XM, author of the relationship fix. I could go on and on. Dr. Jen, why do people lie so much on Facebook?

Well, I think that people try to present a picture perfect story. They try to be, you know, some people try to be inspirational. Some people try to be aspirational. And it seems like these are people who really lived a double life and that they is something tragically, horrifically wrong with this Facebook picture. You know, to Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags on Amazon, host today, Dr. Wendy KCBQ, all of these Facebook photos of her, the little girl smiling, butt covered in bruises, all of that can come in at trial as similar transactions, proof of course of conduct,

M.O. modus operandi, frame of mind, bent of mind, to show this little girl and probably her brothers had all been beaten the whole time they were in this foster family. Yeah, that's true, Nancy. You know, the puzzling thing about the Facebook photos is most of us consider Facebook to be a highlights reel. It's an airbrushed version of reality that intentionally seeks to portray families, relationships in as good of a light as possible. To have photos on Facebook of bruising is completely puzzling because yes, it would be something that would be admissible. On the other hand, is it also going to be then used by the defense as some kind of evidence of obviously nothing was going on or they wouldn't

have posted it on Facebook? You know, you and I have seen this go both ways in terms of something being exculpatory and inflammatory, depending on the argument used to explain why in the world these photos were online to begin with. Guys, take a listen to our cut 15. This is the prosecutor, Christy Kednocker-Sustavich. Listen what she has to say. Several days after the arrest of both of these defendants, Judge Mr. Robinson's attorney contacted the state and said that his client wished to make a statement. Austin Robinson told police that he had not physically ever hurt Tori, but that this defendant would both spank and beat her with different things, including a belt, paddle, flip-flop, or whatever. The interview was two hours

and a wide range in the run. As to the actual injuries for Tori, he stated that this defendant hit Tori with a belt when he was outside and he could hear it. When he came inside, he saw the bruising and looked at Ariel and said, you've gone too far.

He said that they put Tori in an X-in-Salt bath and he says he went to CBS to try to buy some medication for Tori to bring down the bruising. Your Honor, law enforcement did secure surveillance video, and it does show Jerry Austin Robinson buying that medication around 1. EMS was called to the residence roughly around 2 p.m., Judge. So let me understand something. Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. They're like two rats on a sinking ship

that start biting each other and clawing over each other to survive one extra minute. I'm definitely seeing a lot of this, pointing the finger at each other. So am I correct that the father, Jerry Robinson, is now blaming Ariel Robinson, the reality star? You're correct, Nancy. Remember in that 911 call, he said she was choking on water. However, two days after that 911 call, the police interviewed him for two hours, and he did

confirm to them that Ariel Robinson beat the child to death that she was beating the child that day and that she had beat the child in the past with a belt flip-flop shoes whatever she could get her hands on and another inconsistency that they caught the parents and they tried to blame Victoria's brother for some of the bruising on her. They went to one of the teachers of one of the little boys and they said, is he aggressive like the foster parents are claiming? And the teacher said, no, he's a wonderful kid, very docile, no behavior issues, no aggression. So these foster parents have been caught in a lot of lies. A lot of lies. Guys, take a listen to our Cut 18 and our friends Cody Alcomb and Victoria Carman at Fox Carolina.

Disturbing new details in the death of three-year-old Victoria Rose Smith. We have been following her death since it happened on January 14th. She was living at home in Simpsonville with these two foster parents and her brothers. One of those foster parents have gotten a lot of attention because she's a former Food Network star. But a thing more disturbing is the fact she was also a teacher. Her name is Ariel Robinson, and her husband Jerry is also charged in this case. Both have a charge of homicide by child abuse. And new information about how the young girl died was presented by the prosecutor during Robinson's bond hearing today. Investigators say they found bruises all over her body.

They say that Robinson told them Victoria was choking on water at the time, so she tried to do the Heimlich, which caused some of that bruising. But the prosecutor says Robbins' husband described a beating with a belt. A beating so bad, he says he could hear it outside the home. To Michelle Earps, this is little Tori Rose's aunt. What was your reaction to the bond hearing when you heard all this evidence? I became very angry with him. I was already angry with him and angry with her, but I got even more angry with him because he didn't stop it. He didn't report it. It was happening all along. He didn't do anything. And I don't know what kind of man that is. He is not a man.

He is not a man. He is not a father. He deserves just as much as what she gets, in my opinion. They really do need to go down together. The two need to be tried together for murder and stew in the same pot in front of the jury. The two are still behind bars after that bail hearing. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.