Suspected shopping cart murderer in double murder case in Virginia found fit to stand trial

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — A psychiatric evaluation has found that Anthony Eugene Robinson, known as the “Shopping Cart Killer,” was not criminally insane when he allegedly murdered two women in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 2021. This information was first reported Friday by our news partners at WTOP News.

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The Washington, DC man is also a suspect in three other cases – two in Fairfax County and one in DC – he has not been charged in either case.

According to WTOP News, his defense attorney Louis Nagy said the evaluation ordered by a judge in 2022 does not support an insanity defense.

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Robinson is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 23 for the first-degree murder of 39-year-old Tonita Lorice Smith of Charlottesville. He will face another trial early next year for the death of 54-year-old Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon of Harrisonburg.

Redmon and Smith's bodies were found near each other, but their deaths occurred at different times. Robinson was charged with first-degree murder in those two cases and two counts of concealing, transporting or altering a corpse.

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Meanwhile, in Fairfax County, Robinson was not charged in the deaths of Stephanie Harrison, 48, of California, and Cheyenne Brown, 29, of DC. Their remains were found next to a shopping cart at the Moon Inn motel.

Authorities said Robinson found his victims on dating websites such as Plenty of Fish and Tagged and then met them at motels in the area. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Robinson inflicted trauma on his victims and then killed them.

Investigators in Washington DC were also looking into whether Robinson was connected to the death of Sonya Champ, whose body was found in a shopping cart in northeast DC.

In addition, Robinson's attorney accused Davis of making up the “Shopping Cart Killer” nickname to attract media attention, according to WTOP news.

The defense has requested that the nickname and the term “serial killer” be banned from his upcoming trials.

WTOP reported that the defense also wants to avoid mentioning the deaths in Fairfax County and DC during the Harrisonburg trials because Robinson was not charged in those cases.

TIMELINE FOR POLICE CONNECTION OF 2021 CASES:

– Harrisonburg Police reported that two missing women were found dead on November 23, 2021. The bodies of Redmon and Smith were found on a vacant lot near Linda Lane.

– Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said cellphone records and video surveillance link Robinson to the women's murders.

– Robinson was charged with both murders.

– On November 30, Washington DC police contacted Harrisonburg authorities and informed them that Robinson was the last known contact with the missing person they were investigating. Through cell phone records, police learned that the person was missing and that Robinson had made contact near the Moon Inn.

– Subsequently, Fairfax County Police also contacted Harrisonburg in this case.

– Major Ed O'Carroll of the Crimes/Cyber ​​​​and Forensics Bureau in Fairfax said on December 7, 2021, DC police reached out to Fairfax County police to help locate Brown. Investigators found that Brown took the DC Metro to Huntington Station on September 30, 2021. She never returned.

– Digital data showed that Brown was at the Moon Inn the night she disappeared. With the help of a cadaver dog, investigators searched for Brown but were unable to find her.

– As police departments began working together on the case, they contacted the Metro Transit Police Department and found video surveillance showing Brown at the Huntington subway station on September 30, 2021.

“We authorized and promptly received a search warrant for cellular data. It confirms that Miss Brown and the suspect were at the same location on September 30,” O'Carroll said.

– Two days ago, police returned to the Moon Inn to expand their original search. After learning that the suspect had allegedly used a shopping cart to dispose of his victims' bodies, they discovered a shopping cart in a wooded area off Route 1. Next to the red Target shopping cart was a container. When they looked inside, police found human remains. Those remains are believed to be Brown. Police said they found the remains of another person in the container.

– When police found the remains, they saw posters advertising Harrison's missing person report. Investigators contacted the Redding, California police department to learn more about the missing person case.

– Based on the flyer and recent check-in records, police believed Harrison had stayed at the same hotel as Robinson.

– Then Fairfax police learned of Champ, who was found dead in a shopping cart in DC, wrapped only in a blanket.