An attorney for the man authorities have dubbed the “shopping cart killer” has asked a Virginia judge to issue a gag order preventing police from using the moniker, labeling his client a serial killer, or discussing details of the case without court approval, according to a motion filed in court.

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       Attorney Louis Nagy argues police have done irreparable harm to Anthony Robinson’s ability to get an impartial jury or fair trial by using loaded terms and discussing the case in a prejudicial way that has created an onslaught of media attention. Robinson has been publicly linked by police to four slayings, but charged in only two.

       “The Fairfax County and Harrisonburg City Police Departments have shown themselves to be untrustworthy with sensitive information and willing to deliberately and maliciously create a narrative to create a media “firestorm,”" Nagy wrote in the December filing.

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       Nagy declined to comment on the motion filed in Rockingham County General District Court.

       Robinson, 35, of D.C., ischarged with the slayings of two women whose bodies were found in Harrisonburg, Va., in November. Police in Fairfax County have said they think he may have killed two other women whose remains were discovered a month later in a trashcan in a lot along Route 1 in the Huntington area.

       Authorities said video from the Harrisonburg cases allegedly showed Robinson moving bodies with a shopping cart there. And a shopping cart was found not far from where the bodies were found in Fairfax.

       Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a December news conference it was important to publicize the case because investigators were concerned that there might be additional victims.

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       The department said in a statement that it stands by its handling of the case.

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       “Fairfax County has a proven track record of conducting meticulous and methodical criminal investigations to pursue justice for victims and hold offenders accountable,” the statement read. “This case is no exception. While the defendant will enjoy the presumption of innocence, the Fairfax County Police Department stands by its criminal investigation and we look forward to presenting our findings in a court of law.”

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       Christopher Miller of the Harrisonburg Police Department said they are “aware of the motion,” but declined to comment further, noting it was largely focused on the Fairfax investigation at a point when Harrisonburg had already charged Robinson.

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       Authorities in Harrisonburg said he was arrested there on Nov. 23, after they discovered two bodies in a lot in a commercial district. Police said surveillance video and cellphone records connected Robinson to the victims, Allene Elizabeth Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville.

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       Fairfax County police said Robinson is linked to the deaths of Cheyenne Brown, 29, of the District, and Stephanie Harrison, 48, Redding, Calif., whose remains were found Dec. 15.

       D.C. police are also exploring whether Robinson may be connected to a fifth case: the death of a woman who was found in a shopping cart near Union Station in September. Robinson has not been charged in the Fairfax County or D.C. cases, so Nagy argues it was inappropriate to allege Robinson is a serial killer.

       Nagy was particularly concerned with the way Davis and others described Robinson at the December news conference. At that event, Davis said Robinson “preys on the weak, he preys on the vulnerable and he does unspeakable things with his victims.”