Shopping Cart Killer sought victims in Mount Vernon and Harrisonburg. Photo by Fairfax County Police Department.
“He meets victims on dating sites,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis at a briefing on Friday, Dec. 17. “He preys on the weak and the vulnerable,” Davis added.
Two of the four victims, women ages 34 and 54, were found in a lot near Harrisonburg, Va. on Nov. 23. The FCPD worked with Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner to link the cases through digital data. According to the Harrisonburg Police Department, the two individuals were identified as Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville.
The other two victims were found last week near the Moon Inn in the 6100 block of Richmond Highway. “The remains were in a container near a shopping cart in the 2400 block of Fairhaven Avenue in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County,” the police said.
In that case, a shopping cart was spotted in a wooded area off the highway, and upon further investigation, the police found a container with “what appeared to be human remains,” inside said Major Ed O’Carroll, Bureau Chief, Major Crimes, Cyber and Forensics.
One of those victims found in Mount Vernon was tentatively identified as Cheyenne Brown who had a distinct tattoo, but the police are still waiting for the DNA confirmation to positively identify her.
The Harrisonburg Police Department arrested Anthony Robinson, 35, of Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Robinson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in addition to two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body, the Harrisonburg police said.
Through further investigation, he was linked to the Mount Vernon killings. “We have determined the suspect in Harrisonburg was communicating with Miss Brown,” Davis said.
According to Officer Tara Gerhard of the FCPD, it was the phone data that linked Robinson to the Mount Vernon murders. "Our detectives authored a search warrant for cellular data and confirmed Ms. Brown and the suspect were at the same location the night she went missing," Gerhard said.
The fourth victim has yet to be identified. “The decomposition was so bad,” Davis said.
Detectives are continuing to follow additional leads and would like to hear from anyone who may have information about Robinson, this case, or may have had past interactions with Robinson. To contact detectives, please call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2.