DNA test confirms severed arm found on Waukegan beach belonged to Sade Robinson

Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Updated ·2 min read

DNA testing has confirmed that the severed arm found in May on a Waukegan, Illinois, beach belonged to Sade Robinson, the 19-year-old Milwaukee woman killed and dismembered in early April.

Officials had reached out to Robinson's family in May to inform them of the discovery, but they awaited DNA test results that could definitively say the arm was Robinson's.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office in Illinois learned of the results from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday. The sheriff's office has shared the update with Robinson's family, the coroner's office said.

Sheena Scarbrough, mother of Sade Robinson, from left; Carlos Robinson, father of Sade Robinson; and Adrianna Reams, sister of Sade Robinson, prepare to release doves in memory Sade Robinson at her public memorial service on May 10 at the Baird Center in Milwaukee.
Sheena Scarbrough, mother of Sade Robinson, from left; Carlos Robinson, father of Sade Robinson; and Adrianna Reams, sister of Sade Robinson, prepare to release doves in memory Sade Robinson at her public memorial service on May 10 at the Baird Center in Milwaukee.

"I want to express our sincere condolences to Sade’s family and friends who continue to endure this tragic loss," Coroner Jennifer Banek said in a statement.

Sheena Scarbrough, Robinson's mother, said in a statement that she is "devastated and feels like her heart is being cut out as she is constantly tortured with this accumulating news of her daughter's heinous murder."

A photo of Sade Robinson is seen at a memorial where friends and family, along with other community members, left various items such as poster, flowers, and stuffed animals at a memorial set up at Pizza Shuttle on April 19 in Milwaukee. Robinson worked at Pizza Shuttle on Milwaukee's east side for three years.
A photo of Sade Robinson is seen at a memorial where friends and family, along with other community members, left various items such as poster, flowers, and stuffed animals at a memorial set up at Pizza Shuttle on April 19 in Milwaukee. Robinson worked at Pizza Shuttle on Milwaukee's east side for three years.

A person walking along Waukegan Municipal Beach discovered the arm on May 11.

It follows other human remains confirmed to be Robinson’s that have been found in the Milwaukee County area. The first, a leg, was discovered at Warnimont Park in Cudahy on April 2. More body parts believed to be Robinson’s were discovered in the following days, including an arm and a torso along a stretch of beach in South Milwaukee.

Maxwell Anderson, 33, is charged with killing Robinson after the two went on a first date. Prosecutors say Anderson dismembered her before trying to hide her remains in Lake Michigan and across the Milwaukee area.

Robinson has been remembered as a driven young woman who had recently traveled to Jamaica and was studying criminal justice at Milwaukee Area Technical College. She had worked at Pizza Shuttle on Milwaukee's east side for three years, never missing a shift.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: DNA test confirms arm found on Waukegan beach was Sade Robinson's