Just days out from a murder trial for a man accused of killing and dismembering a young Black woman in Wisconsin last year is about to start, her family is speaking out about the tragedy that’s drawn local unrest and national attention.
The case surrounding 19-year-old Sade Robinson’s death began on April 2, 2024, the day after she went on a first date with 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson in Milwaukee.
When she didn’t show up for work, her coworkers called 911. Local authorities found her car scorched in an alley, and then were called to a Lake Michigan beach park where her severed leg was found washed up on the shore.
Police initially named Anderson as a person of interest and later arrested him and charged him with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and arson. He was jailed on a $5 million bond.
In the weeks after Robinson’s death, several more body parts were found on lake shores in Wisconsin and Illinois. The search for her remains set off massive community efforts and even drew volunteers from around the country.
But still, even after more than a year, her family members have yet to retrieve all of her remains.
“We still don’t have my baby’s crown in her head. This is so f—ed up,” Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, told FOX6 Milwaukee.
When Robinson’s parents first heard about her disappearance and the news about the severed body parts from detectives, it was a shock.
“I was in denial. I’m still probably in denial to some point. I just can’t accept this. Mentally, I can’t accept it. I feel like I might lose the last piece of my sanity if I do,” Robinson’s father, Carlos Robinson, said.
Detectives learned that Anderson took Robinson back to his house after the two went out for dinner and drinks. Investigators used surveillance video, phone records, and witness statements to piece together their whereabouts.
They traced Robinson’s phone to the local beach park where her remains were found. Surveillance footage also showed someone in a car matching Robinson’s going from the car to the beach multiple times in the predawn hours of April 2, 2024, according to local reports.
Authorities also found gasoline canisters and blood inside Anderson’s home and on some of his furnishings, but later learned through forensic analysis that the blood did not belong to Robinson.
However, a confidential informant came forward and told detectives that Anderson walked him through his premeditated plan to murder Robinson, saw her body into pieces, and scatter her remains across the city weeks before her disappearance.
“The (informant) states that Anderson told them he intended on bringing Robinson to his residence, pulling a handgun on her, and bringing her down to the basement of the residence,” court documents read, adding that the basement was covered in plastic painter tarp from floor to ceiling. “He then planned on shooting Robinson and then dismembering her body in the room that they were in.”
Anderson has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces, but Robinson’s family demands justice.
“For me, it’s impossible for our justice system to justify this. If you do something like this, you deserve the same punishment, I feel,” Robinson stated.
The family has filed two lawsuits, one against Anderson and the other against two Milwaukee bars that served Robinson liquor. The complaint against the bars alleges that because the establishments served her multiple drinks, the 19-year-old was “rendered defenseless,” which left her “physically and mentally vulnerable” to Anderson, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Scarbrough also wants others to be held accountable, including a city official in Waukegan, Illinois, who shared a photo of Robinson’s severed arm on social media after it was found.
“Anyone, any entity, that was a part of harming or hurting my baby throughout this process, all individuals are gonna be held accountable,” Scarbrough said.
In the months after Robinson’s death, her mother started the Sade Voice Foundation to offer scholarships for self-defense courses for young women.
She also raised tens of thousands of dollars to install a permanent memorial at the Milwaukee park where her leg was found. The memorial was the source of intense backlash after the county parks and culture committee proposed to build it using taxpayer money. Committee members received a barrage of emails laced with racist remarks and tossed the proposal entirely. However, the Milwaukee community raised thousands of dollars to fund the project.
Jury selection in Anderson’s trial will begin on May 27. Pretrial documents cited by WISN list more than 250 potential witnesses, including police, scientists, family members, and even a Milwaukee County Transit System employee.
The trial potentially could last up to two weeks.
