FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — A psychiatric evaluation has determined that Anthony Eugene Robinson, known as the “shopping cart killer,” was not criminally insane when he allegedly murdered two women in Harrisonburg, Virginia, back in 2021. This information was first reported by our news partners at WTOP News on Friday.
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The Washington, D.C. man is also a suspect in three other deaths — two in Fairfax County and one in D.C.– 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, did not support an insanity defense.
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Robinson is scheduled to go on trial for first-degree murder on Sept. 23 for the death 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 two counts of first-degree murder and two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body in those two homicides.
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Meanwhile in Fairfax County, Robinson has not been charged with the deaths of Stephanie Harrison, 48, of California, and Cheyenne Brown, 29, of D.C. Their remains were found near a shopping cart by the Moon Inn motel.
Authorities said Robinson found his victims on dating sites — like Plenty of Fish and Tagged — and then met them at area motels. Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said that Robinson inflicted trauma on his victims, and then killed them.
D.C. investigators were also looking into whether Robinson is connected to the death of Sonya Champ, whose body was found in a shopping cart in Northeast D.C.
Additionally, according to WTOP news, Robinson’s attorney has accused Davis of creating the nickname “shopping cart killer” to generate media attention.
The defense has requested that the nickname and the label “serial killer” be banned from his upcoming trials.
WTOP reported that the defense also wants to prevent the mention of the Fairfax County and D.C. deaths during the Harrisonburg trials, as Robinson has not been charged in those cases.
TIMELINE ON HOW POLICE LINKED THE 2021 CASES:
– Harrisonburg police reported two missing women were found dead on Nov. 23, 2021. The bodies of Redmon and Smith were found in an undeveloped lot near Linda Lane.
– Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner said cell phone records and video surveillance linked Robinson to the women’s murders.
– Robinson was charged in those two homicides.
– On Nov. 30, D.C. police reached out to Harrisonburg officials to note that Robinson was the last known contact for the missing person they were investigating. Through cell phone records, police learned the missing person and Robinson made contact near the Moon Inn.
– Then Fairfax County police also reached out to Harrisonburg on the case.
– Major Ed O’Carroll of the Crimes/Cyber and Forensics Bureau in Fairfax said on Dec. 7, 2021, D.C. police reached out to Fairfax County police to help find Brown. Detectives learned Brown took the Metro from D.C. to the Huntington station on Sept. 30, 2021. She never returned.
– Digital data showed Brown was at the Moon Inn on the night of her disappearance. With the help of a cadaver dog, detectives searched for Brown but couldn’t find her.
– As police departments started working together on the case, they reached out to the Metro Transit Police Department and found video surveillance showing Brown at the Huntington Metro station on Sept. 30, 2021.
“We authorized a search warrant executed for cellular data we received it immediately confirming that Miss Brown and the suspect were at the same location on September 30,” O’Carroll said.
– Then two days ago, police went back to the Moon Inn to expand their original search. After learning the suspect allegedly disposed of his victims’ bodies using a shopping cart, they spotted one in a wooded area off Route 1. Besides 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 another individual’s remains inside the container.
– When police found the remains, they saw missing posters for Harrison. Detectives reached out to the Redding, California police department to learn more about the missing case.
– Based on the flier and recent check-in records, police believed Harrison stayed at the same hotel as Robinson.
– Fairfax Police then learned aboutChamp who was found dead in a shopping cart in D.C. She was only covered in a blanket.