A man convicted of killing and dismembering a 19-year-old college student in Milwaukee was sentenced Friday to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Maxwell Anderson, 34, was convicted in June for the murder of Sade Robinson after the two went on a first date, according to WSAW-TV. After killing Robinson, Anderson reportedly dismembered her body, scattered the remains and set her car on fire. Anderson maintained innocence ahead of sentencing, according to WISN.
Robinson worked at a pizza restaurant on the east side of Milwaukee and was about to graduate from Milwaukee Area Technical College with a criminal justice degree, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She and Anderson met for a date on April 1, 2024.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Laura Crivello sentenced Anderson to life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide, with additional consecutive sentences on charges of mutilating a corpse, arson and hiding a corpse, WISN reported. The judge remarked that Anderson’s crimes are “definitely at the top of the worst homicides” that she had seen in her court, and required the maximum legal penalties. (RELATED: REPORT: Milwaukee Mother Faces Multiple Charges After Baby Girl Allegedly Dies From Fentanyl Overdose)
“I can’t give you justice,” she said. “There’s no way you can walk out of here, no matter what I do today, and high-five each other. There’s no way you walk out of here and say, justice is served.”
In a statement issued on X, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said Anderson’s sentence was “a step toward justice for Sade Robinson.”
“While no verdict can bring back or ease the unimaginable grief of her family and loved ones, today we can take some solace in knowing accountability has been delivered because our community refused to let her story be forgotten,” it read.
My statement on the Maxwell Anderson sentencing. pic.twitter.com/DW10Ykkxw9
— County Executive David Crowley (@DavidCrowleyWI) August 1, 2025
Robinson’s parents spoke at Anderson’s sentencing and condemned him for what he had done to their daughter.
“Somebody that does something like that doesn’t even deserve to live. I think death is a way out,” said Carlos Robinson, Sade’s father.
He added, “You deserve what you get. He deserves the punishment that he gave to my daughter. Everything that he did should be done to him. That’s how I feel.”
Sade’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, said to to Judge Crivello that she wished for Anderson to be “returned back to hell as soon as possible.”
“My daughter had to cross your demonic path,” she said to Anderson. “You plotted and planned to kill, dismember, then you disrespectfully spread my daughter across Milwaukee like a piece of trash. How dare you.”
During his statement, Anderson gave condolences to Robinson’s family but said he was innocent. He added that he plans to appeal his conviction.
