‘Just Want Them Back’: Family of Black Teen, Sade Robinson, Dismembered After First Date, Devastated Again After Her Belongings Vanish from Storage Unit
The family of Sade Robinson says they are reliving their nightmare after discovering that nearly everything they had left of the slain 19-year-old disappeared from a storage unit.
More than a year after Robinson was brutally murdered following a first date, her mother, Sheena Scarbrough, said someone broke into the family’s storage unit and stole irreplaceable keepsakes, photos and personal belongings that she was not emotionally ready to sort through.
“I’m dealing with a lot as I’m still dealing with a lot of trauma, losing my child, and grief,” Scarbrough said in a tearful Facebook Live video after arriving at the unit. “I come to check on my daughter’s storage…”
Instead of finding the memories she had entrusted to the facility, Scarbrough found an empty unit. The lock was gone.
“The amount and the sentimental value of items that were in there — they cannot be replaced,” she said. “This hurts. This has caused extreme additional mental and emotional distress to me.”
‘Want Them Back’
Scarbrough said she rented the unit at an Extra Space Storage facility in Milwaukee because she and Robinson’s sister, Adrianna, could not yet bear to go through the teenager’s belongings after her violent death.
When she returned Friday to move the items, everything was gone.
Initially fearing the company may have mistakenly auctioned off her daughter’s possessions, Scarbrough shared receipts showing the unit had been paid.
“I just want them. I want them back,” she said. “I’m waiting on an answer. I’m hoping and praying that there was a mistake made, and they’re able to return my daughter’s items.”
Extra Space Storage denied auctioning or disposing of Robinson’s belongings.
“Safety and security are top priorities at Extra Space Storage. This is an unusual, targeted break-in,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The company acknowledged the unit had been placed in auction status because of nonpayment in May but said employees removed it from auction after learning of the family’s circumstances. Company officials insisted the unit was never auctioned and said employees did not dispose of any property.
The spokesperson added that Scarbrough’s unit was the only one affected and investigators found no signs of forced entry, such as a damaged door.
The theft marks another painful chapter for Robinson’s family, which has spent more than a year fighting for justice while coping with one of Milwaukee’s most horrifying killings.
Murder shocked the nation
Robinson disappeared after going on a first date with Maxwell Anderson on April 1, 2024.
The following day, police found her burned car in an alley and later discovered her severed leg washed ashore along Lake Michigan. Additional remains were recovered in Wisconsin and Illinois, though some of Robinson’s body has never been found.
Prosecutors built a sweeping case using cellphone records, surveillance footage, forensic evidence and witness testimony. They also presented evidence that Anderson photographed Robinson while she was incapacitated and partially undressed before deleting the images from his phone.
A confidential informant also told investigators Anderson described planning the killing weeks in advance and explained how he intended to lure Robinson to his home, kill her and dismember her body.
After a nine-day trial, a jury deliberated for less than an hour before convicting Anderson on first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15, when he faces a mandatory life sentence under Wisconsin law.
Following the verdict, Scarbrough remembered her daughter rather than focusing on Anderson.
“She will be forever remembered as an angel. She is a hero,” she said. “I haven’t really had a day to breathe since April of last year.”
Family continues to honor Sade’s legacy
Despite enduring repeated heartbreak, Robinson’s family has continued advocating in her memory.
Scarbrough created the Sade Voice Foundation, which provides scholarships for self-defense classes for women, and helped raise money to build a memorial honoring her daughter at the Milwaukee park where her remains were first discovered.
The family is also pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against Anderson and has vowed to continue pushing for legislation aimed at combating violence against women and human trafficking.
Now, Scarbrough says she simply wants the last physical reminders of her daughter returned.
“I just want them back,” she said. “That’s all I want.”