‘Shopping Cart Killer’ murdered four people he met on dating sites

A container with human remains was found next to this shopping cart in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County. [FCPD]

A serial killer, dubbed the “Shopping Cart Killer,” has been
accused of murdering four people, including two in Fairfax County and two in
Harrisonburg. Police believe there may be more victims.

The suspect, Anthony Robinson, age 35, is in custody in
the Rockingham County Jail. Charges are pending.

The Shopping Cart Killer made contact with his victims on
online dating sites and arranged to meet them at motels, said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis at a Dec.
17 news briefing. “After he afflicts trauma on his victims and kills them, he
transports their bodies to their final resting place literally in a shopping
cart.”

One of the victims in Fairfax County has been tentatively
identified as Cheyenne Brown, age 29, of Washington D.C. Police are still
waiting for DNA and other forensic results, but her family has identified her
through a distinctive tattoo (her name and a lily) on her body. The other victim
is unknown.

“He’s a predator as all serial killers are,” Davis said of
Robinson. “He preys on the weak; he preys on the vulnerable. And he does
unspeakable things with his victims.”  

Robinson [FCPD]

On Nov. 23, Harrisonburg police identified two victims that
were found dead in an open lot in a commercial district, said Harrisonburg Police
Chief Kelly Warner at the briefing.

They were positively identified as Allene Elizabeth Redmon, age
54 of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, age 39 of Charlottesville.

Robinson was arrested as a result of video surveillance and
cell phone records that connected him to the two victims. Both women had been
the subject of missing person investigations, Warner said. Their bodies were
found in the same open lot, although they were killed at two separate times.  

On Nov. 30, the Metropolitan Police Department of
Washington, D.C., notified the Harrisonburg Police Department that a missing
person they were investigating, Cheyenne Brown, had contact with Robinson.

Cell phone records subsequently tied Brown with Robinson at
or around the Moon Inn at 6140 Richmond Highway in Alexandria on Sept.
30, the night of her disappearance. Video surveillance shows Brown took Metro
from D.C., to the Huntington Metro stop on Sept. 30 and never
returned, said Major Ed O’Carroll, head of the FCPD Major Crimes, Cyber, and
Forensics Bureau.

Brown was four months pregnant and had a 7-year-old son.

An initial search of the area by homicide detectives and a cadaver
dog around the Moon Inn didn’t turn up any evidence, O’Carroll said. On Dec. 14,
homicide detectives, acting on new information, again searched the area and found
a shopping cart in a wooded area on Fairhaven Drive just off Route 1 near the motel.

There was a large plastic container next to the cart, and
when they looked inside, “their worst fears were confirmed. They observed what
appeared to be human remains,” O’Carroll said.

In addition to the remains tentatively identified as Brown, the
remains of another unidentified individual were found in the same container, he
said.

“We have not
positively identified the fourth victim,” but the police do have leads about “a
missing person in particular last seen in the area,” Davis said. “The state of decomposition
was so bad that it’s going to take a little bit of work.”

The Moon Inn on Route 1. [Hotels.com]

Police believe Anthony is responsible for the deaths of all
four victims. He had been communicating with them on a dating website.

“There may be other victims in this case. We are asking for anyone
with additional information to come forward,” O’Connell said. He urged tipsters
to call the FCPS Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800. Tips can also be
submitted anonymously to Crime Solvers, 1-866-411-TIPS.  

According to Davis, unlike most serial killers, Robinson has
“a remarkable absence of a criminal history.” He had many jobs over the years and
had lived in New York, Prince George’s County, Washington, D.C., and has been
in Harrisonburg.

FCPD is reaching out to law enforcement agencies in those
locations to see if other missing persons had ties to Robinson.  

In expressing condolences to the families of the victims, O’Carroll
said the police departments involved in this case “are absolutely committed.
Justice will prevail. And the offender will be held accountable.”