Prosecutors use DNA in trial of alleged ‘shopping cart murderer’

The first of two murders Anthony Eugene Robinson is accused of is set to go to trial next month. Prosecutors plan to use DNA evidence in the case. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

Robinson is accused of murder Tonita Lorece Smith of Charlottesville and Allene “Beth” Redmon of Harrisonburg in a Harrisonburg motel in late 2021. Law enforcement in Fairfax County, Washington, DCAnd Prince George's County, Maryland. He is also being investigated in connection with the deaths of four other women. Police have dubbed him the “shopping cart murderer” because he allegedly transported the bodies of his victims in a shopping cart.

The trial in Smith's murder begins on September 23. The trial in Redmon's murder is set for January. Court documents filed in June of this year indicate that the prosecutor plans to use DNA evidence at the trial next month. A report from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science said several samples recovered from the crime scene of Smith's body contained both sperm and non-sperm DNA that, in layman's terms, matched Robinson.

I reviewed the results with a molecular biologist to make sure I understood them. In the report's terminology, Robinson “cannot be excluded as a contributor” to the samples. The analysis looked at 24 loci, or specific locations on genes, to determine or exclude a match between the crime scene samples and a sample taken directly from Robinson. For several crime scene samples, the probability that the DNA came from someone unrelated to Robinson was less than 1 in 8.1 billion.

As the National Institute of Justice explained in an article When it comes to DNA evidence, “we have reached a point where testing has virtually ruled out the entire world population and has clearly identified that individual as the source of the DNA.”

A hearing is scheduled for September 9. The judge is likely to consider several defense requests, including banning terms such as “serial killer” in the courtroom and mentioning “unconvicted crimes,” such as the possible murder of other victims.