WASHINGTON — Investigators believe an accused serial killer linked to the deaths of four women and referred to as the "Shopping Cart Killer" could be connected to the killing of another woman whose body was found near Union Station in September.
On Saturday, the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed a death investigation was underway involving 40-year-old victim Sonya Champ.
Investigators said Champ was found dead last September along the 200 block of F Street NE.
Major Ed O’Carroll, who leads the Fairfax County Police Department's Major Crimes Cyber and Forensic Bureau, said her body was covered "only with a blanket." In a police report dated Sept. 7, an officer notes how Champ's body was found inside of a shopping cart.
Months after the investigation first began, the case received renewed interest when police announced on Friday that 35-year-old Anthony Robinson could be connected to the crime based on digital evidence that put Robinson in the same location when Champ disappeared.
Following the update from police, WUSA9 spoke to Champ's mother on Saturday.
"I heard about it early today and I’m still comprehending everything," said Norma Hairston. "It’s bringing back the memories."
Hairston described her daughter as a "sweet person" who often stayed to herself but loved being around family and helping others.
After hearing about Robinson's possible link to the case, she told WUSA9 that his arrest and the updated information on Champ's death brought some relief.
"I didn’t know what she died from. None of that. I have closure now," she said. "I’m at peace with it because now I really know what happened to my daughter.”
In December, investigators announced the arrest of Robinson —the so-called "shopping cart killer"—who is in custody at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail in Virginia.
At the time, Fairfax County and Harrisonburg police held a joint news conference after the bodies of four victims were found starting in August 2021.
Two of the four victims were identified in December as 54-year-old Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon and 39-year-old Tonita Lorice Smith. Robinson faces two charges in Harrisonburg for the murder of Redmon and Smith and two more charges for felony disposal of human remains.
On Friday, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced that DNA analysis led investigators to confirm the identities of two women whose bodies were found in an isolated wooded area in December in a container near a shopping cart in the 2400 block of Fairhaven Avenue in Alexandria. The two women are Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Southeast D.C. and 48-year-old Stephanie Harrison of Redding, California.
Chief Davis said Brown met Robinson on the dating app Plenty of Fish. Investigators believe Robinson uses this dating app, as well as the dating app Tagged, to lure victims.
Investigators determined Robinson met Brown at the Moon Inn Hotel on Richmond Highway in Fairfax County. Brown was announced missing by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department on Sept. 30.
Davis said investigators have sorted through receipts from the Moon Inn and have determined he has stayed at the hotel on five occasions, including the day Brown went missing.
Since her daughter's death, Hairston said the case has continued to bring her heartbreak.
Moving forward, she hoped to hear more about what drove Robinson to commit multiple tragedies.
"I fell apart after I heard my daughter was dead. It hurt a lot. A lot of crying. A lot of sleepless nights," Hairston said. "I would like to talk to him. I really would. Just to see the type of person he was that you would take people's lives.”
Officials believe there are likely even more victims possible beyond the Commonwealth, D.C. area and the east coast. According to Davis, police have scanned through all of the "missing person cases" from 35 police departments in the DMV to find more victims. They are also working with the FBI and authorities in New York—the home state of Robinson—to get more information and create a victimology.
Although Robinson only faces four charges currently, Davis said more charges are forthcoming from Fairfax Police Department.
“We want to do everything we can to bring [families of the victims] some justice and closure over time but this [case] is still ongoing,” Davis said
Anyone with information about this case, or information about Robinson (and his interactions on dating apps), should call FCPD's Major Crimes Division at 703-246-7800. Anyone with anonymous tips can call 1-866-411-TIPS.