A Milwaukee County jury convicted Maxwell Anderson, a 34-year-old bartender, of killing and mutilating Sade Robinson, a 19-year-old college student, after they met for a date.
He was found guilty on all counts, including first-degree intentional homicide.
The killing and dismemberment of Robinson last April shocked the Milwaukee community and led to an outpouring of grief and anger over the gruesome nature of her death.
As body parts began to be found throughout the area, Robinson’s story gained national attention and her mother, Sheena Scarbrough, became a well-known advocate for justice for her daughter. A year later, audiences were riveted by the nearly two-week-long trial of Anderson, who remained silent and largely stoic throughout the proceedings.
The jury, made up of nine women and three men, reached its verdict June 6, after less than an hour of deliberations.
Jury sifted through graphic testimony, photos to reach its decision
Anderson was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and arson in the death last April of Robinson, 19.
In Wisconsin, a conviction for first-degree intentional homicide carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Graphic autopsy photos and emotional testimony were presented during the trial, which began May 27.
Many in southeast Wisconsin threw their emotional support around the family of Robinson, a Milwaukee Area Technical College criminal justice student, after the slaying with weeks of vigils, demonstrations and a public memorial at Baird Center.
Supporters of Robinson could often be seen demonstrating outside the county’s Safety Building, where Anderson stood trial, as testimony was being heard inside.
Maxwell Anderson (right) with his defense attorney Anthony Cotton in Milwaukee County Circuit court on Thursday, June 5, 2025, on day 8 of his trial where he is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, and arson in the death of Sade Carleena Robinson.
More: Here’s what to know about Sade Robinson, the victim in the Maxwell Anderson trial in Milwaukee
More: What to know about Maxwell Anderson, Milwaukee man accused of killing, dismembering Sade Robinson?
Assistant District Attorneys Ian Vance-Curzan and Megan Newport used surveillance video, cellphone location data and other evidence from Robinson and Anderson sharing drinks in popular bars and restaurants in downtown Milwaukee on April 1, 2024, to the discovery hours later of her right leg on a shoreline at Warnimont Park.
Other body parts began turning up in the days that followed at various locations around the county and in northeastern Illinois.
Anderson did not testify, and defense lawyers Anthony Cotton and Jason Findling did not offer any witnesses at trial.
They opted instead to cross-examine the more than 65 witnesses the state brought to the stand to create reasonable doubt.
More: Violence, legal troubles and few consequences: Piecing together the life of Maxwell Anderson
Anderson’s movements captured on surveillance footage
Technology played a pivotal role in helping prosecutors retell for jurors how the final few hours of Robinson’s life came to an end.
On May 30, jurors were shown video footage of Anderson that was retrieved from two Milwaukee County Transportation System buses.
He’s seen in one clip, taken by a passing bus, walking from between two buildings near 35th and Lisbon. Robinson’s car can be seen in the same frame, burning in the background.
Police believe her car was set ablaze to hide evidence of her killing.
A clearer picture of Anderson is captured just moments later as he climbed aboard the Route 35 bus, at a stop just five blocks from Robinson’s abandoned car, and headed home.
Other clips, collected by Milwaukee police and Milwaukee County Sheriff’s officials from neighbors’ Ring cameras and surveillance equipment from businesses, plotted for jurors the movements of Robinson’s 2020 Honda Civic as it drove around the county hours after her death.
This is a developing story. Stay with jsonline.com for updates.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maxwell Anderson guilty of killing, dismembering Sade Robinson