A three-year-old girl who was allegedly beaten to death by her adoptive mum and her partner has been laid to rest in an emotional funeral.
Victoria Rose Smith, from South Carolina, US, is said to have been killed by her adoptive parents Ariel Robinson, 29, and Jerry Robinson, 34, on January 14, police say.
Ariel, who won season 20 of Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America show last August, and Jerry, are accused of inflicting multiple blunt force injuries on Victoria, resulting to her death.
Last Friday, Victoria’s biological family buried her in a church graveyard in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, local newspaper The State reports.
Her biological mother, Casie Phares, was seen placing a teddy bear at her daughter’s grave during the funeral, as some of her previous foster parents looked on.
Victoria, who was described as “sassy and smart”, had been placed in the Robinsons’ home by the South Carolina Department of Social Services in March last year with her two older brothers, a Change.org petition said.
They were being fostered by the couple until they recently adopted Victoria, police said.
It is not clear if any of the other children in the home had been abused.
Victoria was found unresponsive in the home on January 14, and was taken to the Greenville Memorial Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
The couple were arrested and taken to Greenville County Detention Center where they were held without bond.
Both now face a charge of “homicide by child abuse” and, if convicted, face sentences of 20 years or life in prison.
