DNA links ‘shopping cart killer’ suspect to DC murder, prosecutor tells judge - WTOP News (2024)

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The DNA of “shopping cart killer” suspect Anthony Eugene Robinson was found on the body of a D.C. woman, whose body was found in a shopping cartnear Union Station in Sept. 2021, according to a Virginia prosecutor.

Robinson is set to go on trial later this monthin Harrisonburg for the murder of Tonita Lorice Smith. In January, he’ll stand trial for the death of Beth Redmon.

Defense attorney Louis Nagy had asked the court to preclude prosecutors from mentioning two killings in Fairfax County, and the Sonya Champ death in Northeast D.C., since Robinson is currently charged only in the Harrisonburg deaths of Smith and Redmon.

However, during a motions hearing Tuesday, Nagy told Circuit Court Judge Bruce Albertson that he had just learned that day that there’s been a D.C. arrest warrant out since 2022.

WTOP is seeking confirmation from prosecutors in D.C. that an arrest warrant in Champ’s death has been issued.

Reporter Neal Augenstein shares details of the case with WTOP anchors Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer.

Rockingham County Commonwealth Attorney Marsha Garst argued that the presence of Robinson’s DNA on Champ’s body, as well as his alleged use of shopping carts to transport the bodies of victims showed a pattern that jurors should hear.

Champ’s body was discovered two months before Redmon and Smith’s bodies were found on Nov. 23, 2021, in an undeveloped lot within a short distance of each other.

Robinson has not been charged in Fairfax County in the deaths of two other victims — Stephanie Harrison, 48, of Redding, California, and Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Southeast D.C. Their remains were found in a plastic container near a shopping cart in a wooded area near the Moon Inn motel, in the Huntington area of the county.

Albertson agreed with Garst, ruling prosecutors in Harrisonburg will be able to call witnesses in the deaths of Harrison and Brown in Fairfax County, as well as Champ’s death in the District of Columbia.

If convicted of aggravated murder of more than one person within three years — a Class 1 felony — Robinson would face a mandatory life sentence.

Prosecutors can’t use ‘shopping cart killer’ nickname at trial

The judge granted a defense motion to forbid prosecutors and witnesses from using the terms “shopping cart killer” or “serial killer.”

In a late August motion, Nagy wrote Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis “deliberately, maliciously, with the intent to do irreparable harm” created labels for Robinson, in an attempt to stir up media attention for the case.

In addition, Nagy said, “The term ‘serial killer’ is a declaratory and conclusive statement which presupposed that the defendant is guilty of the crimes charged even though he has not yet been convicted of killing anyone in any jurisdiction.”

In 2022, when Nagy unsuccessfully argued for a gag order, a spokesman for Davis said: “While the defendant will enjoy the presumption of innocence, the Fairfax County Police Department stands by its criminal investigation and we look forward to presenting our findings in a court of law.”

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