After adopted SC 3-year-old girl was killed, her biological family lays her to rest

It was a simple funeral in the graveyard of a Travelers Rest church for Victoria Rose Smith, the 3-year-old who was killed in Greenville County last month.

Her biological family and the moms who cared for her in foster care stood under cloudy skies in a sure chill and watched family members carry the small white casket to the grave site. They fought hard for the privilege to bury their child.

The family said the S.C. Department of Social Services, which placed Victoria and her two older brothers with the people now charged in her death, initially told them she would be buried quietly, and the family would not know where or when.

Michelle Urps, who is best friends with the biological mother’s aunt and was raised in the home for a time, said people “made so much noise,” the agency relented.

A blanket Victoria had when she lived with her biological mom was placed under a spray of pink roses, carnations and lilies. A preacher spoke about the girl everyone described as “sassy and smart,” and an iPad played the song “Dancing in the Sky.”’ It begins, “Tell me what does it look like in Heaven. Is it peaceful? Is it free like they say?”

Casie Phares, Victoria’s biological mother, put a teddy bear that had been Victoria’s into the burial vault. Tiffany Huggins, Victoria’s foster mom before she was sent to live with Ariel and Austin Robinson, added a mermaid.

“Then everybody went home,” Urps said.

Victoria died on Jan. 14, and her adoptive parents, Ariel and Jerry Robinson, were arrested Jan. 19 on charges of homicide by child abuse. A coroner’s report said the cause of the child’s death was blunt-force trauma.

Ariel Robinson was an aspiring comedian who won “America’s Worst Cooks” television show on Food Network last fall. Her husband, Austin, worked as a delivery driver. Both were active on social media, posting about their family, which included their two biological children, Victoria and her biological brothers, who are now in foster care..

The Robinsons are scheduled for bond hearings on Feb. 12. When they were arrested, bond was denied for both.

Ariel Robinson’s attorney William Bouton filed a motion saying she should be allowed to be free on bond because she is not a danger or a flight risk, is from the Greenville area and has worked as a teacher. Her teaching certificate was suspended by the state Board of Education shortly after her arrest.

Bouton and Austin Robinson’s attorney Lucas Marchant filed motions requesting all information the prosecution has about the case.

Urps said the biological family plans to attend the Robinsons’ hearing to oppose bond.

They also plan to hold a candlelight vigil for Victoria when the weather improves.

They have posted a petition to change.org calling for improvements in DSS, which Friday had more than 18,000 signatures.

When asked whether anyone at DSS told the family they would not be involved in the funeral, a DSS spokeswoman said, “The DSS Office of Communications and External Affairs, the official agency department that has the authority to comment to the media, did not issue any statement of the kind.” The family stands by its account.

This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 2:10 PM.