On April 1, 2024, 19-year-old Sade Robinson stepped out for a date in Milwaukee, a night that should have been a step toward her future. Instead, it ended in her murder, her body dismembered and scattered across the city. Reported missing the next day, the case unraveled into a grim investigation that shook Milwaukee to its core. As of June 2025, this story, part of our Criminal Cases series, recounts Sade’s life, the horror of her death, and the slow march toward justice for a young woman whose dreams were stolen.

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A Life Cut Short

Sade Carleena Robinson was born on May 10, 2004, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Sheena Scarbrough and Carlos Robinson. At age one, her family moved to Milwaukee, where she grew up with her mother and grandparents, spending summers with her father in Florida. As a child, she played soccer, joined the Girl Scouts, and later explored rap, dance, and even ballroom dancing. In middle school, she joined the Junior ROTC, aspiring to serve in the Air Force, though she faced challenges that led her to live with her father in Florida. Returning to Milwaukee, she excelled at Riverside High School, graduating early in December 2021. At Milwaukee Area Technical College, she studied criminal justice, supporting herself with jobs at Pizza Shuttle and the Wisconsin Country Club. Friends remembered her as reliable and warm, her laugh a familiar sound, her determination a quiet force as she planned trips to Jamaica, Atlanta, and New Orleans.

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The Night That Changed Everything

April 1, 2024, began like any other day for Sade. She spoke to her mother on FaceTime before her shift at Pizza Shuttle, mentioning a date she was excited about with 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson. The two had arranged to meet via text around 4:15 p.m., settling on the Twisted Fisherman restaurant, where Anderson once worked. Surveillance footage shows Sade arriving at 5:20 p.m., joining Anderson at the bar for drinks and food. Witnesses recall a casual conversation before they left at 6:30 p.m., driving in Sade’s 2020 Honda Civic to Duke’s on Water. Video from inside captures them leaving together at 9:06 p.m., likely heading to Anderson’s home. It was the last time she was seen alive.

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The Unraveling Horror

By April 2, alarm bells rang when Sade missed her Pizza Shuttle shift, a rarity for her dependable nature. Her manager called, but no answer came. Friends and family, unused to her silence, grew frantic, and at 9:00 p.m., a friend reported her missing. Unbeknownst to them, the Milwaukee Fire Department had already responded at 7:32 a.m. to Sade’s car ablaze on North 29th Street, though the link wasn’t immediate. Later that day, a severed human leg—later identified as Sade’s—was found on Warnimont Park beach in Cudahy, hacked from the hip, its discovery a chilling clue. Police traced her phone via Life360, showing it moved from Anderson’s home to the park by 4:33 a.m., where its battery died.

Investigators pieced together her last hours. Surveillance and bus footage linked Anderson to the arson, showing him in a gray hoodie and tan backpack walking away from the burning car. A search of his home revealed blood on bedding and walls, gasoline cans in the garage, and a knife in the sink, though blood DNA didn’t match Sade’s. On April 4, Anderson was arrested. More remains—a foot near the car fire and an arm in Waukegan, Illinois—surfaced, each find a brutal reminder of her fate. The community reeled, grappling with the image of a young woman reduced to scattered parts.

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The Pursuit of Justice

On April 13, 2024, Anderson faced charges of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, arson, and hiding a corpse. His trial, delayed from December 2024, began in May 2025. Prosecutors presented phone records, surveillance, and witness testimony, including a claim Anderson planned the act a month prior. Despite no murder weapon or direct DNA, the evidence convicted him on June 6, 2025, after a 20-minute jury deliberation. Sentencing looms on August 15, 2025, with a life sentence expected. The trial exposed the gruesome dismemberment—Sade’s head still missing—leaving her family to mourn a fragmented loss.

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A Community’s Grief and Resilience

Sade’s death left a void. Her mother, Sheena, called her an “angel,” her light dimmed too soon. A mural at Pizza Shuttle and a pink-lit Hoan Bridge honored her favorite color, while a May 10, 2025, memorial on her 20th birthday celebrated her life. Yet, questions linger about the police response, with community members finding some remains first. For Sade’s loved ones, justice offers little solace—her dreams of graduating MATC and joining the Air Force stolen by a senseless act. This piece, in our Criminal Cases series, stands as a testament to her life, urging her memory to endure beyond the headlines.

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Sources

• Milwaukee Police Department statements and press conferences (2024-2025).
• Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office updates on the investigation.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage of the Sade Robinson case.
• WISN 12 News trial reports and live updates.
• CNN and CBS News reports on the arrest and trial.
• Community statements and GoFundMe page for Sade Robinson.

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