The first trial in the case of the alleged "Shopping Cart Killer" was scheduled to begin Monday. The court has moved it to January. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Anthony Eugene Robinson, who's been dubbed the "Shopping Cart Killer" by law enforcement, will not go to trial until January 27th. He was previously scheduled to be tried for the murder of Tonita Lorice Smith of Charlottesville this week, and Allene "Beth" Redmon of Harrisonburg in January. Now, the two cases will be tried together.
Robinson's defense had unsuccessfully pushed for this outcome earlier this month. But after that hearing, prosecutors submitted additional evidence in the case – a DNA analysis and autopsies from other victims Robinson is suspected of killing in Washington, D.C. and Fairfax County. The defense objected that this evidence was submitted just 18 or 19 days before trial, rather than the minimum 21 days required by law.
Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst then moved for the trials to be combined and continued to January. She did not address the defense's argument about timing, but wrote that the expert who prepared the DNA reports in Sonya Champ's case was unable to testify this week. However, she is available for January. Garst added that "the victims' families have been consulted and concur" with the delay.
Champ's body was found in a shopping cart in D.C. in September 2021, about three weeks before Cheyenne Brown – one of the victims later found in Fairfax – went missing. In the following two months, both Redmon and Smith went missing, their bodies were found in Harrisonburg, and Robinson was arrested.
