Who are the victims of the Virginia serial killer who is known as the shopping cart killer in Harrisonburg and Fairfax County?
Kevin Davis, the chief of the Fairfax County Police Department, said in a news conference that police believe there are at least four victims of Anthony Robinson, the Washington D.C. man they are accusing of being the shopping cart serial killer. Davis said the name derives from the fact police believe Robinson would use a shopping cart to dispose of the bodies of women he met on dating sites and later at hotels in some cases.
The victims are Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon of Harrisonburg, 54; Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville; and likely Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Washington D.C., and another unidentified woman, police said in the news conference.
“We are here today to talk about a serial killer,” Davis said pointblank in the news conference.
Davis said Robinson has “killed four already, and we suspect he has more victims. He’s a predator as all serial killers are..He preys on the weak. He preys on the vulnerable….Our shopping cart killer does unspeakable things to his victims….After he inflicts trauma on his victims and kills them, he transports the victims to their resting place literally in a shopping cart. There’s video to that effect.”
Here’s what you need to know about each victim:
Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon
obituaryAllene Redmon
Allene Redmon was also known as Beth. Her Facebook page said she studied at Bridgewater College, went to Turner Ashby High School, and lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She was last seen on October 24, 2021, and it was considered uncharacteristic for her to disappear, according to WHSV-TV.
Redmon’s obituary says “she was born on June 30, 1967 in Harrisonburg” and was a lifelong resident of that community. She was survived by two daughters and four grandchildren, among other relatives.
In a press release in November 2021, police released Robinson’s name in connection with the murders of Redmon and Smith.
That press release said the Harrisonburg Police Department had identified two women found dead in November. They charged Robinson, 35, of Washington D.C. with two counts of first-degree murder in addition to two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body.
DC Police confirm Anthony Robinson, who is charged in Harrisonburg with the murders of 2 women, is a person of interest in a missing persons case in DC. The 2 women Robinson is accused of killing were each reported missing weeks apart from Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.
They were conducting two separate missing persons investigations which resulted in narrowing the focus of their search for Redmon and Smith to an area near Linda Lane in Harrisonburg. The bodies were found in an undeveloped lot a short distance from each other but the deaths occurred at different times, the release said.
Tonita Lorice Smith
GoFundMeTonita Smith
Tonita Lorice Smith was also called Nita. She was a mother of six.
Shakira Washington wrote on Facebook in November, “Didn’t want to hear this before the holidays definitely gone way back you watched me grow up and bond with SAGE & the family like no other me & you use to have so much fun GOING OUT , Taking night rides in grandma car 😂 just to get yelled at went to clubs cried together laughed together mad at eachother but it was always Love sending my condolences 💐 to the WHOLE FAMILY I love you with all my heart …. Watch over US baby FLY HIGH 😢 RIP AUNTIE.”
According to NBC29, she was reported missing on November 19, 2021, after last being seen in Charlottesville on November 14.
A GoFundMe page to help Smith’s family says she was also called Nita and indicates she was not the first member of the family to go missing. “A day before Thanksgiving, we had to face the devastating news that our sister and friend, Nita, was taken from us in a senseless, unspeakable tragedy,” it reads.
“We are heartbroken, and trying to find ways to process this as the pain hits extra hard as it happens during the same time of year when we are reminded that our beloved, Sage Smith, disappeared not to return as of nine years ago this week. After burying their aunt, 10 days ago, this family has to deal with immeasurable pain. Six young children lost their mother in the height of the holiday season, and it will be unimaginable to deliver this news and bear the brunt of financial obligations among other things.”
The page continues, “We are asking for your support to assist with funeral expenses and beyond with consideration for things associated with care and contingency plans for the six children Nita leaves behind. This support will go directly to Nita’s family and we will ensure they receive every outpouring of support during this brutal time of year for this family. We appreciate every gesture of love that has been received thus far, and hope that you will continue to support this family in any way that you can.”
Cheyenne Brown
Critical #MissingPerson 29-year-old Cheyenne Brown, who was last seen in the 200 block of 36th Street, Southeast, on Thursday, September 30, 2021.
Have info? Call (202) 727-9099/ text 50411
One of the suspected victims, Cheyenne Brown, was reported missing by Washington D.C. police.
“Critical #Missing Person 29-year-old Cheyenne Brown, who was last seen in the 200 block of 36th Street, Southeast, on Thursday, September 30, 2021,” read a tweet from Washington DC police in October 2021. Brown was described as 5-feet-two-inches tall and weighing 130 pounds. She was last seen wearing a burgundy Washington Redskins sweatshirt with black floral leggings and black shoes.
The suspect was communicating with Brown using a dating website, authorities revealed in the news conference. Authorities investigating her disappearance saw a shopping cart in the woods near the Moon Inn. A container was inside it, and human remains believed to be those of Brown and the unidentified woman were inside it, authorities said in the news conference.
They believe Brown took the Washington D.C. metro to the Huntington metro stop and never returned. They have digital data showing she was possibly at the Moon Inn on the night she disappeared. They also have video surveillance of Brown at the metro and cellular data showed Brown and Robinson were at the same location the night of her disappearance on September 30, 2021, authorities said. Video surveillance showed they were in DC at the same metro stop, they said.
A Fourth Unidentified Woman
Police/obituary/GoFundMeAnthony Robinson with, clockwise from top, Tonita Smith, Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, and Cheyenne Brown.
A woman found with the remains of Brown is still not identified, authorities said in the news conference.
Davis said that Robinson used dating sites, hotels, and murdered women with “blunt force trauma.”
“I can count on one hand with a couple of fingers left over the number of times where law enforcement has had to grapple with the impact of a serial killer,” Davis said in the news conference. “We have a serial killer.”
He said that Robinson is in custody but the challenge remains in identifying whether he had other victims.
According to Davis, “our serial killer is called the shopping cart killer.” He said that he “meets his victims on dating sites,” and then at hotels.
“So far we have four victims,” said Davis.
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