Maxwell Anderson Gets Life Sentence for Murdering Sade Robinson
Anderson killed and dismembered 19-year-old Milwaukee woman.
Maxwell Anderson. Milwaukee County Sherriff’s Office
A judge has sentenced Maxwell Anderson to life in prison for the murder of 19-year-old Milwaukee college student Sade Robinson.
Milwaukee County Judge Laura Crivello handed down the sentence on Friday morning. She said Anderson won’t be eligible for extended supervision, which is similar to parole.
In June, a jury found Anderson, 34, guilty on all the counts for which he was charged. That included first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, arson and hiding a corpse.
Crivello agreed to dismiss the charge of hiding a corpse on Friday, after Anderson’s attorneys filed a motion to vacate that charge. His attorneys said state law prevents a judgement of conviction from being entered for both mutilating a corpse and hiding a corpse.
The first-degree intentional homicide charge carries a mandatory life sentence. Prosecutors asked the judge to impose that sentence without the possibility of allowing Anderson to be released on extended supervision. His defense attorneys, however, requested that he become eligible for release after 25 years behind bars.
Robinson was reported missing in April 2024 after meeting Anderson for a first date at a Milwaukee restaurant. Anderson later killed her at his home on the city’s south side, according to a timeline laid out by prosecutors.
Anderson dismembered Robinson’s body at Warnimont Park in Cudahy and later set her car on fire, prosecutors said.
Parts of Robinson’s body were later found at sites throughout the region. Her head has not been found.
During Anderson’s sentencing hearing, members of Robinson’s family said they haven’t been able to find peace. They lamented that Anderson has refused to provide details about the crimes he committed, including what happened to some of Robinson’s remains.
“To know that there’s a chance I might not even have her completely to be able to put her at peace brings me night terrors and constant mental chaos,” Sade Robinson’s father, Carlos Robinson, told the court.
Before she died, Robinson worked two jobs and took classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College. The college awarded a posthumous associate’s degree to her family in May of last year.
Sade Robinson’s 16-year-old sister, Adrianna Reams, described her older sibling as a protector and a role model. She said Sade Robinson had a difficult childhood, and was just starting to build a life on her own terms as she entered adulthood.
“What he did was much more than just murder or dismember her,” Reams said. “He erased her independence. Her ability to fight for herself. He tried to erase her existence and her value.”
Reams described having to deal with horrors that “no 16-year-old should have to,” and said she’s lost her ability to trust other people.
“I had to communicate with law enforcement, take care of my family, physically pick my mother up off of the ground, on top of trying to deal with my own loss, because he left them all too weak and broken to do anything,” Reams said. “I cannot meet any person without the fear that they’re going to harm or kill me, because all my sister did was meet someone, and as a result, he ended her life.”
Anderson has denied murdering Robinson. He told the court Friday he intends to appeal.
During the hearing Friday, the judge said she was troubled by how Anderson repeatedly gave statements that contradicted the evidence.
“It just seems like he has a different view of reality than the rest of the world does,” Crivello said.
And she said life in prison would be necessary to protect the public, and would reflect the severity of Anderson’s crimes.
“I have to look at whether you’re remorseful, and I don’t think you’re remorseful in any way,” Crivello said. “I don’t think that you have gotten to the point of taking any form of responsibility for what transpired.”
A hearing on restitution that would be paid by Anderson will take place on Sept. 4.
Maxwell Anderson gets life sentence for murder of Sade Robinson was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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