Anthony Robinson (serial killer)

Anthony Robinson (serial killer)

Anthony Eugene Robinson (born September 3, 1986), is an American serial killer who murdered at least 4 women in the Washington, D.C. area and transported their bodies using shopping carts, thus dubbing him the Shopping Cart Killer. As of 2023, he has been incarcerated and imprisoned in the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail without bail.

Background

Prior to his arrest, Robinson had a "remarkable absence of criminal history". He was homeless and lived in multiple states including New York, Maryland, and Virginia.

Victims

Allene Elizabeth Redmon

On October 24, 2021, the night of her murder, Redmon, 54, had told her family she was going to a football game with a friend by the name of Ant (Anthony), whom her daughter had never heard of before. Her remains were found with her hands bound in an undeveloped lot in Alexandria, Virginia near the Moon Inn Hotel. The cause of death is disputed. One source stated blunt force trauma, while others suspected asphyxiation due to a cord being tied around Redmon's neck.

Tonita Smith

Smith, 39, went missing November 19, 2021. The last location extracted from her phone data was deemed to be at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Harrisonburg. Her body was found 15 feet away from Redmon on November 24, although it was confirmed that the two women had been murdered on separate occasions. Her cause of death, like Redmon's, is disputed.

Suspected victims

Cheyenne Brown

Brown, 29, was reported missing September 30, 2021, last seen entering a Metrobus. She had a 7-year-old son and was pregnant at the time of her disappearance. Her family went on live television to spread awareness. Brown's cousin confirmed seeing Robinson in her house with Brown ten days before she went missing, in which he forced him out. He came back a day later and was kicked out once more. Like Redmon and Smith, Brown's remains were found near the Moon Inn Hotel. Her body was placed with another victim, Stephanie Harrison, in a container next to a shopping cart. Both women's bodies were so decomposed that they could only recognize Brown by a tattoo. Police found data that she had been communicating with Robinson on a dating app days before she was murdered. Video footage showed that her and Robinson were at the same metro station, and that she was staying at the Moon Inn Hotel at the same time as Robinson. Her cause of death is unknown.

Stephanie Harrison

Stephanie Harrison, 48, had been visiting D.C from Redding, California. She was staying at the Moon Inn Hotel concurrently but unconnected to Robinson. It is suspected that they met spontaneously while staying at the hotel. Her remains were found in a container with Cheyenne Brown on December 15, after Robinson's arrest. Her body was in so late a stage of decomposition that police could not identify her for multiple weeks. Her cause of death is unknown.

Sonya Champ

Sonya Champ, 40, was a resident of D.C whose body was found in mid-September 2021, before any of the confirmed murders. Her corpse was placed in a shopping cart and covered by a blanket. At the time of her discovery, her death was not linked to a serial killer as Robinson's other victims had not gone missing yet, although it was still ruled a homicide.

Skye Allen

Skye Allen was the ex-fiancée of Robinson. She passed away in 2018 at the age of 30 due to cardiac arrythmia. Allen's mother had gone into her room, believing her to be awake, and found her barely breathing. After her death, Allen's mother confronted Robinson, whom no one in the family liked, and asked him if he had killed her daughter. He denied any part in her death, but Allen's mother still believes that Robinson had something to do with it. Similarly to his victims, Robinson met Allen on a dating site. As of 2023, the case is still ongoing.

Attempted victims

Monica White

Monica White claimed to have met Robinson on a dating app one year before he was arrested. At age 53, she had recently gone through a divorce and signed up for dating apps in the fall of 2020. She alleged that Robinson started the conversation with "Hi beautiful, I'd like to get to know you better." He also told her that he had once been a preschool teacher. As the relationship progressed, Robinson stated he preferred older women, which most of his victims were. He told White he had a son who had died as an infant, and a school-aged daughter.

In early 2021, White and Robinson ended things on bad terms, but weeks later he asked her to come to a hotel with him in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She declined and the two never spoke again.

Capture and Incarceration

Police were given access to all visitors at the Moon Inn Hotel as well as security camera footage. One such video showed Redmon arriving at Robinson's room at around 6 p.m. on the day she was murdered. At 4 a.m. the next day, it showed Robinson removing a corpse from a shopping cart and throwing away Redmon's tennis shoes. Footage of similar occurrences with Smith were also found.

After finding the video evidence, Robinson was arrested November 23, 2021. When being questioned, Robinson claimed that both Redmon and Smith had died of overdoses and he awoke to find them unconscious. He said that he had panicked and disposed of their bodies as to not be suspected of murder.

Robinson was charged in September 2022 with the two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of concealing dead bodies, and one count of aggravated murder. He was charged once more two months later with another count of aggravated murder of multiple people.

As of 2023, Robinson is being held in Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail without bail.