A first date turned deadly when a man allegedly killed a woman and proceeded to dismember her body and dump the parts in Lake Michigan.
Milwaukee County on Friday charged 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpsePhoto byScreenshot: WISN.com
Prosecutors in Milwaukee County on Friday charged 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, and arson of property other than building. He’s accused of killing 19-year-old Sade Carleen Robinson, dismembering her body and later torching her car to hide evidence, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said.
The 19-year-old’s co-workers became concerned she did not show up for her shift at a local pizza restaurant on April 2, a move they considered unlike her. The day before, she told her colleagues about the date with Maxwell Anderson; a white 33-year-old white man.
Robinson’s mother Sheena Scarbrough told reporters after Anderson’s first appearance in court on Friday that he is a “sick son of a b — -.”
Officers arrested Anderson around 1:16 p.m. on April 4, during a traffic stop near 38th Street and Lakefield Drive.Photo byScreenshot: WISN.com
“Who the f — would do something like this to my beautiful baby?” she said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “She hurt nobody. She harmed nobody.”
The investigation began Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024, around 5:29pm, when members of law enforcement including the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office and Cudahy Police Department responded to Warnimont Park located at 5400 S. Lake Drive to a report of a human leg located on the beach.
"She was gorgeous and her smile could brighten anyone's day and she had a personality that could cheer you up." said friend Josh S.Photo byScreenshot: WISN.com
First responders were led by the citizen who called police to the leg. Responding deputies located the right leg of what appeared to be a black female. The leg was severed just below the hip socket and appeared to have been sawn off. The toes on the feet had pink nail polish. The leg did not appear to be decomposing, according to the complaint.
Deputy Leon Martin was one of the first responding Sheriff’s deputies. Deputy Martin spoke to EM who discovered the leg. EM stated he was meeting his friend at the park. EM stated he and his friend were walking towards the beach/water and then saw the leg just north of the Warnimont pump house at the shoreline. Deputy Martin reports that the area where the leg was located contains a bluff that is approximately 100 feet tall. The leg was originally found about 2/3 of the way down the bluff, towards the water’s edge.
“I think everyone’s overwhelmed, we’re searching all the same places, getting no results, it’s a little tiring,” Keyiana, Sade's CousinPhoto byScreenshot: WISN.com
The leg was recovered and transported to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office and was examined by Dr. Lauren Decker. During the examination, based on the size of the leg, Dr. Decker estimated the height of the person to be approximately 5 feet tall. There were multiple cutting impressions around the amputation point as well as sharp force trauma to the exposed femur bone, however the top of the femur bone appeared to have been snapped off. The leg appeared to have been intentionally severed with a sharp instrument, including the bone being sawn halfway through.
A joint investigation between the sheriff’s office and Milwaukee police had determined that Robinson’s family reported her missing the day before when she failed to show up for work. Footage depicts Robinson leaving the building around 9am on April 1st, 2024. Robinson is wearing a black puffy coat, a white shirt, light colored blue jeans with multiple tears in front, and white shoes.
According to a criminal complaint, Anderson and Robinson met for the first time on April 1 to go on a date. Detectives also obtained text messages of the two planning their date earlier on April 1.
Conversation occurred between approximately 4:15pm and 5:18pm on April 1st, 2024, and reads as follows:
Sender Message:
Sade: 4145104769~ “Where are we meeting”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “I can do 5”
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Hmm downtown somewhere?”
Said: 4145104769 ~ “Ok”
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Brathouse on 3rd?”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “Perfect “
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Okay Im going to shower quick ill probably get there more around 515”
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Are you hungry? Im need to stop at twisted fisherman to pick up my w2 from last year and we could eat there first”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “Ok and yes”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “Are we eating at the brat house or the other place”
Anderson: 2624164874 -“Lets eat at twisted Im feeling seafood”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “Yes I love seafood”
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Sounds good Im about to leave ill be there soon”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “\0O\0k\0 =M<\0”
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Just got to twisted”
Sade: 4145104769 ~ “Ok are u inside?”
Anderson: 2624164874 - “Yes”
Surveillance video also shows them at a downtown Milwaukee restaurant and bar. Robinson is still wearing a black puffy coat, a white shirt, light colored blue jeans multiple tears in front, white shoes, and she is carrying a dark greyish-brown purse.
Sheena Scarbrough, mother of 19-year-old Sade Carleena Robinson, talks to the press after Maxwell Anderson is chargedPhoto byScreenshot: WISN.com
The Defendant is wearing his hair in a ponytail, a red flannel coat with a grey hood, and a black t-shirt with “Carhartt” written in white across the chest, as well as dark jeans, before leaving and driving in Robinson’s 2020 Honda Civic to Anderson’s home around 9:30 p.m., the complaint stated. There are no cameras at Twisted Fisherman that depict the parking lot.
An app on Robinson’s phone shows it left Anderson’s home shortly after midnight on April 2 and later travels to Warnimont Park where her leg was found, the affidavit said. Surveillance video from the park shows a Honda Civic ramming through a gate around 3 a.m. and someone go down to the water several times before leaving around 4:30 a.m.
The complaint said detectives found a human foot in a wooded area near train tracks, as well as "what appeared to be human FleshPhoto byScreenshot: WISN.com
Around 7:30 a.m. the Milwaukee Fire Department responded to the 1800 block of 29th Street for a vehicle fire. Investigators later determined it was Robinson’s Honda. Cops recovered surveillance video from a bus that shows Anderson get on the bus near where the vehicle was torched and ride to a stop near his home, according to the affidavit.
On Saturday, April 6th, 2024, members of the Milwaukee Police Department began to canvass the area near where Robinson’s Honda Civic was set on fire. While searching the area of the 31st & Galena Playground (3100 W. Galena Street), Milwaukee Police Detective Cassandra Lindert located a human foot in the wooded area adjacent to the train tracks that border the playground to the east. Investigators located, in addition to the foot, another piece of what appeared to be human flesh in the same area. Complainant has observed the recovered foot, as well as the leg recovered at Warnimont Park, and observed they appeared to be from the same individual, particularly due to skin tone, size, and having matching pink nail polish. The location of where these remains were discovered was approximately one block south of where Robinson’s car was set on fire.
Sheena Scarbrough, mother of 19-year-old Sade Carleena Robinson, talks to the press after Maxwell Anderson is chargedPhoto byScreenshot: WISN.com
A search of Anderson’s home found identifiers for the defendant, including packages addressed to the Defendant. Additionally, blood was located on bedding in one of the bedrooms and on the walls leading towards the basement. Several gasoline containers were located in the garage/storage area. In the basement, investigators found a “sex dungeon,” reported local ABC affiliate WISN, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Detectives are still trying to track down all of the body parts, authorities said.
Loved ones of Sade Robinson spent Saturday searching for her remains at Warnimont Park, some coming all the way from Minnesota.Photo byScreenshot: TMJ4.com
“I think everyone’s overwhelmed because we’re searching all the same places thinking we’re going to get results so it’s a little tiring,” Keyiana shared.
Keyiana and others have been searching around Milwaukee and Cudahy since Robinson went missing April 1.
On Saturday, she and nearly two dozen others continued that search at Warnimont Park, one of the place’s Robinson’s phone was pinged at on the night she went missing. It’s also the place where a leg was found on April 2. DNA analysis indicates the leg belonged to Robinson, according to court documents.
Sheena Scarbrough, mother of Sade Robinson, talks to the press after Anderson is charged with killing and dismembering her daughterPhoto byJovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The other locations Robinson’s phone pinged include Pleasant Valley Park and Kern Park — areas the family tells TMJ4 they’ve searched.
She told TMJ4 she wishes law enforcement would be more involved, suggesting the use of boats or dogs.
“It’s a little sad because it feels like we don’t really have their help right now,” Keyiana added.
“Our family needs peace and we need closure and we don’t want to stop,” Sade’s cousin Keyiana declared.
Witness saw a man light a lighter and toss it into the driver's door window before walking away and boarding a Milwaukee County Transit BusPhoto byClerk of Circuit Court 2024CF001692
“The facts mentioned in this complaint cause Complainant to conclude that the Defendant intentionally killed and then dismembered Robinson with the intent to conceal the homicide, and it occurred between the arrival at the Defendant’s residence and his departure from the Warnimont Park area,” read the document.
“Our hearts are with the family and loved ones of Sade Robinson,” Milwaukee police Chief Jeffrey Norman said in a statement.
“This is a horrendous tragedy and above all else, I cannot imagine the pain you must be going through. I would like to express my deepest and most sincere sympathy.”
Robinson was close to earning an associates degree in criminal justice at Milwaukee Area Technical College and also considered joining the U.S. Air Force.
“Her whole life was so ahead of her,” Scarbrough told the Journal Sentinel. “She was so, so amazing. So beautiful, such a beautiful angel. Everywhere she went, people just admired my baby.”
A GoFundMe for Robinson’s memorial service was made as her family grapples with the horrific loss.
Robinson, originally from Mississippi, studied criminal justice as she prepared to graduate from the Milwaukee Area Technical College, the page stated.
“The pain of losing Sade has left a void in the hearts of her family, especially her grieving mother and little sister, along with other relatives, friends, and the entire community who loved and supported her,” reads the description. “As we come together to honor Sade’s memory, we aim to provide her with the dignified farewell she deserves.”
After Anderson’s first court appearance, Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, called his arrest “justice for Sade.”
Anthony Cotton, an attorney representing Anderson, told CNN his client “is presumed innocent and we will fight this matter vigorously in court.”
FILED 04-12-2024, Anna Maria Hodges, Clerk of Circuit Court 2024CF001692, Honorable Jean Marie, Kies-45 Branch 45Photo byClerk of Circuit Court 2024CF001692
Anderson has a criminal record. Court records show he had a 2014 misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction in Waukesha County following an incident with a family member in Delafield. In 2015, he had a misdemeanor domestic violence case in Door County.
For the last few years, WISN 12 News has learned Anderson worked at several Milwaukee bars, including The Rave from 2018 to 2020, and was most recently working at Victor's Nightclub on the city's east side.
Anderson is at the Milwaukee County Jail on a $5 million bond. His next court date is scheduled for April 22.
It is still not known where Robinson was killed, what the motive may have been and any information about a weapon. The sheriff would not comment on how she died.
https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/2024cf001692-criminal-complaint-1-anderson-maxwell-s-pdf-23346107-6619888a2278b.pdf : See last photo to access link to the criminal Complaint.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0