Jury recommends four life sentences for Virginia “shopping cart killer” suspected in additional D.C. and Fairfax killings
It took a jury only 30 minutes to find “shopping cart killer” suspect Anthony Eugene Robinson guilty of killing two women in Harrisonburg, Virginia in 2021. The jury recommended four life sentences, plus 10 years in prison and a $400,000 fine in the deaths of Allene “Beth” Redmon and Tonita Smith.
During the four day trial, jurors watched hotel video showing Robinson entering a Virginia hotel room with two women on separate occasions, and leaving the next morning with a shopping cart covered in a sheet.
Jurors saw photos, reviewed physical evidence, and heard testimony about what happened before and after Robinson entered Room 336 of the Howard Johnson Hotel in Harrisonburg — first in October 2021 with Beth Redmon, and then again the following month with Tonita Smith. Redmon’s and Smith’s bodies were found on a nearby hillside.
Wednesday, jurors saw evidence that prosecutors say link Robinson to unsolved deaths in Fairfax County, and Washington, D.C.
Jurors saw a 2021 photo of the body of Sonya Champ in a shopping cart, under a blanket, near Union Station. A forensic scientist said Robinson’s DNA was found on Champ and the shopping cart.
Fairfax County detectives testified about finding Cheyenne Brown’s body in a garbage can, next to a shopping cart near the Moon Inn, in Alexandria. Metro surveillance video showed Robinson and Brown at the Minnesota Avenue and Huntington stations.
Robinson has not been charged in the Fairfax County or D.C. cases.
Rockingham County prosecutor Marsha Garst rested her case Thursday. Defense attorney Louis Nagy put on a brief defense, introducing two photos into evidence but calling no witnesses.
The jury deliberated a half hour before convicting Robinson of all counts: Two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of first-degree murder, and two counts of concealing a dead body.
Later, Thursday in the sentencing phase of the case before the jury, victim impact statements were provided by Tonita Smith’s father, and brother, Dean Smith, who was arrested for contempt after a courtroom outburst on Monday. He provided his statement from jail, by video.
Beth Redmon’s daughter and brother, who each testified in the guilt phase of the trial, also provided victim impact statements.
The jury recommended the stiffest possible sentences for Robinson. For each aggravated murder conviction, the jury recommended a life sentence, plus $100 fine, with the same sentence and fine for each first degree murder conviction, and five years for each conviction of concealing the dead bodies.
Rockingham County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Albertson will announce the sentence on Sept. 17. Each aggravated murder conviction in Virginia carries a mandatory life sentence, although Albertson has the latitude to reduce the other recommended sentences.