PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — Police in Maryland are investigating whether a man known as the Shopping Cart Killer may be tied to the death of a sixth woman in 2018.
Monday, a judge in Harrisonburg, Virginia, ruled a grand jury can consider first-degree murder charges against 35-year-old Anthony Robinson for allegedly killing two women in a hotel there and dumping their naked bodies in a nearby field behind the hotel with a shopping cart. The women have been identified as Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, and 39-year-old Tonita Smith.
Closer to the DMV, authorities say they have linked Robinson to the deaths of two women in Fairfax County: 29-year-old Cheyenne Brown of D.C. and 48-year-old Stephanie Harrison of California.
Police also say Robinson is responsible for the death of a fifth woman, 40-year-old Sonya Champ, who was found dead in a shopping cart near Union Station in D.C.
Authorities say Robinson used dating sites and apps to lure his victims.
Now, according to WUSA9's partners at the Washington Post, a Prince George's County family has come forward to say 30-year-old Skye Allen was engaged to Robinson when they found her "barely breathing after she spent the night with Robinson."
Allen died at a hospital.
Prince George's County Police told WUSA9 the department "did not open an investigation into Ms. Allen’s death in 2018. Our agency was not notified of her passing, which occurred at a hospital, and therefore had no involvement in documenting any aspect of her death," the department said in a statement.
Adding, "In January of 2022, a PGPD Homicide supervisor did speak to Ms. Allen’s relatives. Based on those conversations, the PGPD’s Cold Case Unit is reviewing the facts surrounding her death."
Which, police say, will be complicated by the fact that Allen's remains were cremated.
As for Robinson, prosecutors say they have video evidence showing him disposing of his alleged victims in Harrisonburg with the shopping cart.
The judge said there is significant evidence these crimes meet the bar for first-degree murder. The case is set to go before the grand jury on September 19.