Food Network Star's Husband Pleads Guilty In Death Of 3-Year-Old Foster Child

The husband of Food Network star Ariel Robinson pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in the beating death of the couple's 3-year-old foster daughter.

Robinson, 30, of Simpsonville, South Carolina, a winner of the competition show "Worst Cooks in America," and her 35-year-old husband, Jerry "Austin" Robinson, were charged in January 2021 in the death of their foster daughter, Victoria Rose Smith.

After pleading guilty in a Greenville courtroom to homicide by child abuse/aiding and abetting, the husband faces a minimum of 10 to 20 years in prison, Fox Carolina reported. His wife awaits trial next month on related charges.

On Jan. 14, 2021, police found the girl unresponsive at the Robinsons’ residence in Simpsonville. Victoria died later at Greenville Memorial Hospital.

Greenville County senior deputy coroner Kent Dill said the girl died as a result of multiple blunt force injuries, People reported.

Jerry claimed he never physically hurt Victoria but told investigators that Ariel would beat the girl with different things, including a belt, according to prosecutors.

During Thursday's hearing, Jerry testified that his wife beat Victoria to death because she was frustrated with her. He said that the night before she died, the girl threw up on herself on the way to church, angering her mother. The next morning, he said Ariel was frustrated with Victoria for not eating her pancakes fast enough.

Jerry said that when he walked into their home on the day their foster daughter died, he saw Ariel standing over Victoria with a belt. He also said he could hear Ariel beating the child with the belt from outside the home.

"You've gone too far. You went too far this time," Jerry reportedly told Ariel.

Jerry called 911 hours later, and when first responders arrived at the home, Victoria was in cardiac arrest.

Assistant Solicitor Christy Sustakovitch detailed the call in court. "We have an emergency, our daughter is unresponsive. She drank a lot of water. We tried to do CPR to get it out," Jerry said in the call.

Ariel has pleaded not guilty to the charge of homicide by abuse. She is set to go on trial on May 9.

Ariel won Season 20 of the Food Network cooking show, "Worst Cooks in America." She took home the $25,000 grand prize and a Food Network cooking set.

Following the arrest of the couple, the network removed the entire 20th season of the series from the cable service's VOD offerings, as well as from Discovery+, Hulu and YouTube, Deadline reported.