Maxwell Anderson sentenced to life in prison without parole
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Maxwell Anderson was sentenced to life in prison Friday, Aug. 1, without the possibility of parole, for the homicide of Sade Robinson.
In June, a jury found Anderson guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, arson of property and hiding a corpse.
During the sentencing hearing Friday, Sade's family spoke, as well as Maxwell Anderson himself and Anderson's father.
"My daughter was everything, she was everything to all of us," Sade's mother, Sheena Scarbrough, said. "You're a coward, my daughter is a hero."
"He deserves the punishment that he gave to my daughter," Sade's father, Carlos Robinson, said. "Everything that he did to her should be done to him. That would be justice. I don't feel like he should be allowed to walk around and breathe air. The moment he did what he did, he lost that."
"He stole my sanity because I will spend the rest of my life searching for answers that I will never get about what he did to my sister and why he did it," said Sade's sister, Adrianna Reams.
When given an opportunity to speak, Anderson indicated his intent to file an appeal, maintaining his innocence in the case.
Before delivering the sentence, Judge Crivello noted Anderson's failure to take responsibility and refere
"Usually, the first step in rehabilitation is taking of responsibility, and we didn't have that here. That's why it's important to read what his version is," Judge Crivello said. "You heard him say today is that he didn't commit this crime. What he said about the offense was that they met for food and drinks and they proceeded to his apartment, and that's pretty much all there is to say, he said. He offered no other information as to what transpired that night. He later said that he regretted he did not walk Miss Robinson to her vehicle when she left his apartment and he believed it was at that point she was abducted by an unknown assailant, 'either from the alley or from my back yard.'"
Judge Crivello said, "When asked how he accounted for his presence in the area where Miss Robinson's vehicle was set on fire, Mr. Anderson said that he was set up. He stated that he was in the area to buy marijuana and 'all it would have taken was for someone to know where I lived and where I'd be in the morning.'"
"I have to look at whether you're remorseful, and I don't think you're remorseful in any way," Judge Crivello said.
"There's no way you walk out of here and you say justice is served. Because justice would be having Miss Robinson back to you," Judge Crivello said. "Justice would be having her with you for the rest of your lives."
Judge Crivello read a letter to the court from an anonymous citizen only known as 'stargazer.'
"Sade Robinson was not a torso, she was not evidence, she was a full living, radiant human being. She had dreams, plans and a future she was building with pride. She had people who loved her and that still love her more than words could hold. And she had a right to live, to breathe, to laugh, to grow old. That right was stolen in a way so vile, so deliberate, that it tears at the fabric of what we call humanity. You Maxwell Anderson didn't just kill her - you carved her. And you discarded her like garbage. And you tried to erase her body from this earth piece by piece. And for what? Not even you had the courage to say. You sat there in court as if you were a man. You didn't snap; you planned. You didn't panic; you dismembered. And still you offered no answers, no remorse, no ounce of dignity that you stripped from her. But here's what you couldn't take. You could not mutilate her soul. You cannot silence the scream of justice. You could not prevent an entire community from rising up in Sade's name. We know who she was. We know who she could have become. And we will not let your darkness define her. To the family, there are no words that can hold the weight of your pain. But I need you to know we see you. We mourn with you. We love you. You have the right to tears, you have the right to rage, you have the right to every ounce of justice the system could give. May you feel her arms in the wind. May you hear her laughter in your memories. May you know that she did not die forgotten, she died loved. And we will remember her always. Maxwell Anderson you are not the center of this story, she is, and she will always be. Sade Robinson lives on in light, in truth and in love. And you will be remembered only as a man who tried to destroy something beautiful but failed."