Photo courtesy of Harrisonburg Police Department
A suspect was taken into custody last month after the bodies of four women were found at two different locations in Virginia. According to authorities, the victims are believed to be connected to a serial murderer, nicknamed the “Shopping Cart Killer” by police.
According to People magazine, a press conference was held on Friday, and Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the suspect, Anthony Robinson, 35, has been charged with two deaths and may be involved with the deaths of two other women.
Robinson supposedly met his victims on dating websites and reportedly lured them to nearby hotels. The suspect would kill the women, dispose of their bodies by using shopping carts to transport them to vacant lots, and get rid of them, according to police.
Authorities have confirmed that two victims, Allen’s Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, and Tonita Lorice “Nita” Smith, 39, were found dead last month in Harrisonburg. Robinson is also responsible for the death of a woman they believe to be Cheyenne Brown, 29, and another victim, who has yet to be identified, from Fairfax.
“We’re in the process of conducting, along with many other partners, a retrospective investigation to figure out where he’s been,” Davis said. “And we’re going to work with our law enforcement partners, homicide detectives, missing person detectives, to see if we can identify any other victims and families and communities that he has brought harm to.”
After Robinson’s arrest, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department notified nearby authorities and stated that the suspect was the last known contact of Brown before she went missing.
While police could not locate the woman in the same area she was last spotted at, a tip led authorities back to where they discovered a shopping cart — which they recalled how Robinson allegedly transported his other victims after they were killed, police said.
“Investigators found two bodies in the cart, including one that they believe is Brown, but haven’t fully identified, and the yet-to-be-identified second woman, People magazine reported.”
“We have a tattoo that’s been positively identified by her family as Cheyenne’s tattoo, and the reason why we’re not waiting … until we get positive and 100 percent positive DNA or dental verification that it is Cheyenne, is because we believe that there may be other victims in the area and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Davis said. “And we need to act now.”
During the press conference, Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said that Robinson had not made a statement since his arrest in November.
At the time, Robinson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in addition to two felony counts of concealing, transporting, or altering a dead body. The suspect has not been formally charged regarding the newly discovered deaths, but police said charges are impending.
A spokesperson for the Rockingham County Jail previously told People magazine that Robinson is being held without bond.
A scheduling hearing regarding the first two deaths in Harrisonburg is scheduled to take place on Dec.27, the Associated Press reported.
Anyone with information on the case is recommended to call Detective Leslie Wetherell at 540-432-7788 or email her at leslie.wetherell@harrisonburgva.gov. Anonymous tips related to this incident or any crime can be sent to Crime Solvers at (540) 574-5050 or by texting “HPD” plus their tip to CRIMES (274637).