NewsNation

‘Shopping cart killer’ awaiting trial for murders of 2 women

(NewsNation) — The man police dubbed the “shopping cart killer” is accused in at least five murders and charged in two of them.

Anthony Robinson is currently behind bars awaiting trial for the murder of two Virginia women. He claims they died after overdosing, but authorities tell a much different story.


Robinson appeared in court this week along with the evidence the public has not seen yet. The “shopping cart killer” is accused of murdering 54-year-old Allene Redmon and 39-year-old Tonita Smith last fall.

In court Monday, police rolled surveillance footage showing Redmon going into Robinson’s hotel room and never coming out alive. Instead, police claim a grisly crime was caught on camera with Robinson spotted pushing a shopping cart with what police say was Redman’s lifeless body and white bedsheets inside. Text messages also placed Redmon at the hotel.

While police continued their search for Redmon, they began working on a missing persons case a month later for Smith. Her phone also showed her last location at the same hotel.

Investigators say they also have video of Smith entering Robinson’s room but never again coming out alive.

Both bodies were later found dumped behind the hotel when Robinson was arrested in November of last year. He said both women died after overdosing and he didn’t know what to do with them. Police believe it was more calculated than that.

Last December, police felt the urgency to find out if Robinson had killed others.

“He’s a killer. He’s a serial killer. We know who he is, thank God. He’s behind bars right now. But that still doesn’t take away from the urgency that exists to identify any other victims that might be out there,” a lead investigator said of the case.

Robinson is also being investigated in three other slayings in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Washington, DC. So far, he has not been charged in those cases.

The suspected killer did not speak during his preliminary hearing, but his attorney told the court there was no evidence that these deaths were cold blooded, premeditated murder.