Adrianna Reams was forced to grow up faster than she’d ever imagined.
Now 17, Reams is the sister of Sade Robinson, a 19-year-old college student who was murdered while on a date in 2024.
At the Aug. 1 sentencing of Robinson’s convicted killer, Maxwell Anderson, Reams told a Milwaukee County judge how the murder upended her life: Some days, instead of going to school, she was searching for Robinson’s body, learning how to navigate communication with law enforcement, and figuring out how to console their grieving mother with each new update.
Reams said she quit her job to escape the constant reminder that her sister, Robinson, who was her “guide and support system,” had been “stolen.” Authorities said Anderson killed Robinson on April 1, 2024.
Robinson — who was first reported missing by co-workers — helped her sister get a job at the Wisconsin Country Club, where the siblings worked together.
“I couldn’t go back to a job where I couldn’t spend time with her … hearing the way she changed people’s lives with her smile, or her laugh,” Reams said, during her victim impact statement.
The 17-year-old struggled to read from a prepared statement without breaking down in tears or her voice cracking. Reams, who is in high school, sat in court during most of the seven-day murder trial in June as prosecutors presented surveillance footage, cellphone data, and other witness testimony in the murder trial.
Circuit Court Judge Laura Crivello sentenced Anderson to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He did not present a defense at the trial, where he was convicted of first-degree intentional murder for killing and dismembering Robinson. The jurors deliberated for 45 minutes.
Reams joined her mother, Sheena Scarbrough, and Robinson’s father, Carlos Robinson, in asking Crivello to sentence Anderson to life in prison. The judge also received a letter of support for a life sentence for Anderson from an anonymous person.
“He sits there without an ounce of guilt,” Reams said, unable to speak her sister’s name without crying. “All my sister did was meet someone, and he stole her life. … I cannot meet any person without the fear that they’re going to harm me.”
“He stole my sanity. … This man should never walk free again,” she said.
Anderson, 34, maintained his innocence when given the opportunity to speak during the two-hour hearing.
“I did not commit these crimes,” he said.
But Crivello was not moved.
“I don’t think you’re remorseful in any way. I don’t think that you have gotten to the point of taking any form of responsibility for what transpired,” the judge said, adding that justice for her family would be “having Ms. Robinson here today.”
“She was an innocent victim. A girl, I hope, more young ladies would want to be like,” Crivello said.
Carlos Robinson said becoming Sade’s father changed everything for him when she was born. But, he said, what Anderson did to her was “inconceivable.”
Sade Robinson, 19, was in her last semester at Milwaukee Area Technical College, aiming for a career in the military. At the time of the murder, she lived on her own and worked two jobs to be self-sufficient, her mother said. Her sister, Reams, accepted her posthumous criminal justice degree in May 2024.
On April 1, 2024, she went on a first date with Anderson, bar hopping in town. She was reported missing by co-workers when she didn’t show up to her shift that next day. Robinson’s family is suing two local bars that served Robinson alcohol even though she was a minor, according to television station WISN.
In the suit, her mother said that the bars contributed to Robinson’s death by allegedly over-serving alcohol to the 19-year-old while she was with Anderson.
During the murder trial, prosecutors showed video of Anderson nearby Robinson’s torched car.
Scarbrough, Sade Robinson’s mother, wasn’t notified right away by law enforcement about her daughter’s reported disappearance — a painful experience that now drives her advocacy. Through the Sade’s Voice Foundation, she’s pushing for legislative change. She said a bill sponsored by state Rep. Shelia Stubbs would reform how police handle missing person investigations. Stubbs reintroduced the bill for the third time on July 25.
Prosecutors said parts of Sade Robinson’s body have not been found.
“My daughter had a lot of life left to live,” Carlos Robinson said. “I don’t even have her completely to be able to put her at peace — it brings me night terrors.”
The family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Anderson in June 2024.
During the sentencing, the judge said Anderson has a criminal history dating back to 2014 that includes domestic violence and domestic disturbance convictions.
His attorneys said he plans to appeal his conviction.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified where Adrianna Reams and Sade Robinson worked together. The sisters worked at the Wisconsin Country Club.