'We just want our baby back': 3-year-old girl's body remains with coroner pending hearing

TAMIA BOYD   | Greenville News

The body of 3-year-old Victoria Rose Smith remains at the Greenville County Coroner's Office while her biological family members await a hearing with a judge, according to Senior Deputy Coroner Kent Dill.

The girl was killed while in the care of a Simpsonville couple, according to the Simpsonville Police Department. Jerry Robinson, 34, and Ariel Robinson, 29, were charged with homicide by child abuse after Victoria died from multiple blunt-force injuries, according to the Coroner's Office.

Victoria was found unresponsive at a residence on Sellwood Circle on Jan. 14, according to the Coroner's Office.

Her body will remain with the Coroner's Office until it is determined by a Family Court judge whether her biological family can claim custody or if the South Carolina Department of Social Services will claim the remains and turn her over to the state, according to the Coroner's Office and Michelle Wooten Urps, who served as a spokesperson for the biological family at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Victoria's biological great-aunt Stacey Phares said Victoria and her family were "failed" by authorities who were supposed to take care of Victoria and her biological brothers when they left their birth home to live elsewhere in early 2020.

"We just want our baby back," Urps said Tuesday. "All we want is justice and the system fixed — the system that has let Victoria and her brothers down and countless other people down."

DSS, the agency that helps oversee adoptions and foster care in South Carolina, is aware of allegations and the arrests in Victoria's case, and the agency is investigating alongside law enforcement, according to Danielle Jones, the agency's public information officer. The agency cited confidentiality concerns in declining to provide information on the Robinsons' relationship with Victoria.

Jerry and Ariel Robinson are being held in the Greenville County Detention Center without bond, according to jail records, and neither had an attorney listed in online court records as of Tuesday.

At Tuesday's press conference, Urps and Traci Fant said Victoria's biological family feels an urge to hold a proper memorial service and burial. Fant is organizer of Freedom Fighters Upstate SC, a volunteer-based activist organization.

"Let us say goodbye one last time," Urps said. 

Dill said it is not clear when a Family Court judge will issue a ruling.

Tamia Boyd is Michigan native who covers breaking news in Greenville. Email her at tboyd@gannett.com, and follow her on Twitter @tamiamb.