A Milwaukee County jury took a matter of hours to convict the man last seen with Sade Robinson before her death.
The seven-day murder trial of Maxwell Anderson ended without his defense calling a single witness, opting to rest their case minutes after prosecutors did on Thursday. By Friday afternoon, the jury of mostly women found him guilty on all charges.
Prosecutors have shown a Milwaukee County jury surveillance footage capturing Robinson’s final moments during a first date with Anderson, as well as video of her car heading toward the area where parts of her dismembered body were discovered weeks later.
The 34-year-old was expressionless as the judge polled the jurors, who unanimously reached their decision. Anderson faces spending the rest of his life in state prison for first-degree intentional homicide and other charges. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15.
Sheena Scarbrough, Robinson’s mother, vowed that she would be in court daily to be an eyewitness to justice for her firstborn child. And with her youngest by her side, she has been.
After the verdict, Scarborough’s attorney, Verona Swanigan, said the family was “grateful to the jury, the judge and the judicial system for bringing justice for Sade.”
Being a mother to two daughters was her greatest pride, she said. Scarbrough, 44, envisioned watching them grow into adulthood — side by side, thriving, and supported. But those dreams were shattered when her 19-year-old never returned home from her date in April 2024.
“This is the worst type of pain and hurt. I just miss her being present. I miss her — her life, her spirit, her calls. Just her. Her laughter, her character, her loving nature. She was just so loved,” Scarbrough told Capital B. “I just miss her being there with us every day.”
The grieving mother decided against publicly celebrating Robinson’s second heavenly birthday on Mother’s Day weekend this year. She would have been 21 on May 10.
Last year, Scarbrough organized a balloon release in her honor at a park near their home. But this year, Robinson’s birthday came just weeks before her accused killer’s trial. Anderson was also charged with mutilating a corpse, and arson of property other than a building. He has been held in jail on $5 million cash bail.
During the first week of trial, jurors watched several hours of surveillance footage — some of it grainy and recorded after midnight on April 2, 2024, by a neighbor’s security camera. The video showed movement in and out of Anderson’s home shortly before Robinson’s car was seen driving away. An ATF agent, Ricky Hankins, testified about her 2020 Honda Civic that was later found torched. Prosecutors also showed footage of a white male walking away from the scene and on a bus.
Robinson’s death underscores the dangers for Black women living in the state, where, a 2024 Columbia University report found, they’re 20 times more likely to be murdered than their white peers. The state’s Justice Department says there are 175 missing people from the state, but advocates say those numbers aren’t complete, especially as violence against Black women is on the rise.
When Robinson was reported missing, a co-worker and a childhood friend didn’t wait. They used a phone tracking app to locate her and reported what they found to police, they testified during the first week of her killer’s trial.
Capital B reached out to Anderson’s attorneys, Anthony Cotton and Jason Findling, for comment prior to the trial’s start on May 27 and after the verdict.
“We respect the jury’s verdict,” Cotton wrote in an email to Capital B on Friday. “They had a hard job to do and obviously thought the case had been proven.”
The trial was livestreamed throughout the proceedings.
In the weeks leading up to the trial, Scarbrough referred to Anderson as a “demonic entity, an entity or the demon” throughout her interview with Capital B.
“That demonic entity,” she said with conviction. “A normal person would not move in that…level of behavior.”
A mother still waits for answers
Robinson’s case also highlights disparities in police investigations in Wisconsin and across the country when it comes to missing Black people. When Robinson did not show up for work at Pizza Shuttle on April 2, 2024, she was reported missing by co-workers, but Scarbrough wasn’t notified for two days of her disappearance. This is an example of the disconnect law enforcement has with Black families when investigating missing loved ones, said state Rep. Shelia Stubbs, who — along with other lawmakers, including Republican state Rep. Jesse James — has been advocating for an investigative task force to address these disparities.
Stubbs was present for the verdict, said Swanigan, Scarbrough’s attorney.
Once contacted, Scarbrough was able to assist detectives in their investigation by providing Robinson’s last known phone location. — the mother and daughter had been tracking each other’s phones for safety. Also monitoring Robinson were Alana Fisher, who considered herself one of Robinson’s best friends since fourth grade, and a co-worker, whose name has been withheld as requested by prosecutors. They used location data sharing apps Life360 and Find My iPhone to retrieve Robinson’s last known location at Warnimont Park in Cudahy. That isn’t an area where Scarbrough said she knew her daughter to frequent, she told Capital B in a previous interview.
“I never imagined this would be my, where I would be placed in life,” Scarbrough said, adding, “This is something I never expected to walk through — being a crime victim.
“My daughter [was] taken from me in the most brutal way.”
“I just miss her being present. I miss her — her life, her spirit, her calls. Just her.”
Sheena Scarbrough, mother of Sade Robinson
According to multiple news outlets, Anderson has prior convictions for domestic violence, disorderly conduct, and drunk driving. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reported that court records highlight concerns about his mental health and substance abuse.
Scarbrough said there are “a lot of different layers” in connection to her daughter’s death that she cannot get into publicly but will come out through civil litigation she has pending in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
“We have definitely stopped this demonic entity in their tracks,” she said.
She filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Anderson in June 2024, and this April she filed another suit against two bars, accusing them of contributing to her daughter’s death by allegedly over-serving alcohol to Robinson, who was underage, while she was on a date with Anderson. There’s video surveillance of Robinson’s last moments alive in those bars, according to television station WISN.
Scarbrough has turned her pain into advocacy through the Sade’s Voice Foundation, which, in part, is fighting for legislation Stubbs has sponsored to reform police investigations into missing person cases.
“She’ll take some months to recover and prepare for litigation and legislation along with Representative Stubbs,” Swanigan said.
Anderson’s attorneys argued in court earlier this year that there’s a potential alibi through Anderson’s phone records.
Scarbrough couldn’t quite put into words what justice would look like at the end of the criminal trial. She still has a 17-year-old daughter, Adriana, who she says is grieving the loss of her big sister.
“Not having my baby present…nothing’s going to replace that. There will never be justice. I want my daughter back,” she said. “But definitely making sure those types of demonic entities are not on the streets to harm or hurt anyone else.”
Nonetheless, she said: “The truth will be told. My daughter’s voice will be heard.”