‘Shopping Cart Killer’ Suspected In Four Deaths, Police Say

A man dubbed the ‘Shopping Cart Killer’, who is suspected of four deaths in Virginia, has been taken into custody after video footage connected him to two dead bodies found in a parking lot.

The suspect, Anthony Robinson, met victims on internet dating websites, took them to motels where they were killed, and then transported their remains in shopping carts to “their final resting place,” according to Kevin Davis, the Fairfax County police chief, who spoke at a press conference on Friday afternoon. Davis added, “there may be other victims in the area and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Robinson, 35, is being held at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on two counts of murder. Video evidence and phone records were used to link him to the bodies of two female victims, whose remains were discovered in an open lot in the city’s commercial district, according to authorities. According to Chief Davis, the cameras show Mr. Robinson dumping off the victims in the parking lot using shopping carts.

In separate missing person investigations, the Harrisonburg and Charlottesville Police Departments were looking for two women — Allene Elizabeth Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville — when their bodies were discovered on November 23, according to Kelley Warner, the Harrisonburg police chief.

The remains of the two ladies were discovered within a short distance of one another, but they had been killed at different times, according to Chief Warner.

Robinson was arrested shortly after the revelations, which resulted in the discovery of further evidence. On Nov. 30, the police in Washington, D.C., called Harrisonburg’s major crimes section to inform them that the last person in which a missing person had interacted with was Robinson. Phone records encouraged the police to search in the area near the Moon Inn in Fairfax county.

Investigative teams located a plastic container next to a Target shopping cart in a forested area in Fairfax County near Alexandria on Wednesday, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The remains of two additional victims were found in the container.

Cheyenne Brown, 29, was one of the victims, according to preliminary identification provided by police. She was last seen on September 30 while riding the Washington Metro to the Huntington stop in Alexandria. Mobile phone and video records show that Mr. Robinson and Ms. Brown were at the Huntington Metro stop on the same day, according to Maj. Ed O’Carroll, bureau chief for major crimes, cyber and forensics for Fairfax County police.

According to Chief Davis, the other bodies discovered in the container were very decomposed and will require more time to identify.

Davis said, “He’s killed four already, and we suspect he has more victims. He preys on the weak, he preys on the vulnerable and he does unspeakable things with his victims.”

A “retrospective” inquiry is currently being carried out by the police to learn more about Mr. Robinson’s travels and to discover any other possible victims.

Chief Davis added, “We know who he is, thank God he’s behind bars right now. But that still doesn’t take away from the urgency that exists to identify any other victims that might be out here. That’s what worries us. He didn’t suddenly turn into who he is three months ago.”

Robinson has held jobs and addresses from New York City all the way to Fairfax, Virginia.

Davis said, “that transient nature has prompted us to figure out where he’s been for the last several years.”

Investigators are now cross-referencing his online dating connections with unsolved missing person reports. Chief Warner said Robinson has not given any cooperative statement since being arrested.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for any updates.