MILWAUKEE — The man convicted of murdering and dismembering a young Milwaukee woman gets sentenced on August 1.
34-year-old Maxwell Anderson faces a mandatory life sentence for the 2024 murder of 19-year-old Sade Robinson. Robinson was killed after their first date. Her body parts were found in the days that followed scattered around Milwaukee County. More remains washed up along the lakeshore in Waukegan, Illinois.
Wisconsin’s Midday News host Jessica Tighe talked with Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, ahead of the sentencing. Scarbrough says the one thing she wants right now is to know where the rest of her daughter’s remains are hidden.
“This demon has not talked. His family has not encouraged him to open up. They have not confessed. You know, we still don’t have my daughter’s crown– her head. This is not justice. So I am praying that this demon has some type of remorse so her father and I, and her sister, and the rest of her family can have that peace. That’s what I’m praying for.”
Scarbrough shared a draft of her victim impact statement with Tighe. During the sentencing hearing, she plans to thank many members of the community including those who helped search for her daughter. Scarbrough also plans to thank witnesses. Part of the statement reads: Thank you to the woman who shouted out, “It was HIM as (Sade’s) car burned on fire.”
Her message moving forward: “If you see something, say something. That’s how we gotta move now. That’s the village. If you see something, say something. Period. And I am so grateful and appreciative to them,” Scarbrough said.
Robinson’s sister and dad also plan to give victim impact statements.
Tighe asked Scarbrough what she wants the community to remember about her daughter once the sentencing has come and gone.
“Long live Sade. She was a light. She touched so many people. Anyone who engaged her and encountered her, she just had a light and an aura of gifting and giving. It’s so hard for me as a mother because I miss my baby so much and this hurts so much. But I have to walk in her spirit and I have to be guided to where she’s leading me,” she answered.
This nightmare has led Scarbrough to start Sade’s Voice Foundation which supports missing people and victims of crimes. She’s also involved in creating a state task force with a similar mission. The mother also wants women to learn how to “date smartly.”
“We want other young women to understand the safety measures of dating in 2025. Dating is not the same. We need to background check every individual that we are going on any type of date with. In the state of Wisconsin, we can CCAP individuals for free.”
CCAP stands for the Consolidated Court Automation Programs. It’s part of the Wisconsin Court System to access online court records.
“Sade just wants other women and other families not to experience what we have had to go through. Sade’s spirit is present with me daily. She’s how I’m able to do the things I’m doing,” Scarbrough said.
In June, 34-year-old Maxwell Anderson was found guilty on all four counts connected to the murder and dismemberment of 19-year-old Sade Robinson. The first count, first-degree intentional homicide, mandates life in prison.
That means there’s only one question that remains for the August 1st sentencing. Prominent Milwaukee defense attorney Jonathan Smith tells Wisconsin’s Midday News, “The only question is whether Judge Crivello will set a parole eligibility date, which doesn’t necessarily mean [Anderson] would get paroled. It’s just that on a date in the future, is he able to apply or is it life without parole?”
Smith says either way, it’s going to be a tough road ahead for Anderson. “It’s dark days ahead and for members of the public, some may say ‘good, it should be.'”
Tighe has interviewed Scarbrough three times over the last five months. Each interview was emotional, but this time there’s more than sadness in her voice. There’s intense anger too and she didn’t hold back when talking about Anderson.
“That MF-er needs to burn in hell. Point blank. Period. I’m returning him back to hell [on August 1]. Then I’m going for all his family members,” she said.
Tighe reached out to Anderson’s attorney Anthony Cotton to see if Maxwell Anderson’s father would like to respond. Cotton passed along the request, but we have not heard back yet from the Anderson family.
Scarbrough also said she doesn’t think Robinson was the first victim.
“This is the demonic behavior of a serial killer, and I believe in my whole heart that this was not the demon’s first time. There are other missing and murdered women that demon has hidden.”
Wisconsin does not have the death penalty, but that’s what Scarbrough would want if it did. At this point, she wants Anderson to get life in prison without the possibility of parole.
