'I know somebody harmed my baby': Sade Robinson's mother speaks out, shares memories of missing daughter

On Easter Sunday, Sheena Scarbrough spent the evening with her 19-year-old daughter, Sade Carleena Robinson, and the rest of their family. They gathered at Scarbrough's mother's home, and Scarbrough cooked a meal they all shared.

"I didn't know that was going to be the last day I saw my baby," Scarbrough said.

The next morning, Scarbrough and Robinson had a video call as Robinson got ready for work. Robinson told her mother about the rest of her night, and about her plans for her hair. Conversations like that are common for the tight-knit family, with members often talking on the phone multiple times a day.

"She looked as beautiful, glowing as she always is," Scarbrough said.

Seated with her mother, Linda, and daughter Adrianna Reams on Tuesday, Sheena Scarbrough told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter about Robinson, missing since April 1. Robinson was eager to help others, her mother said. While young and still figuring out what she would do with her life, she had aspirations of joining the U.S. Air Force.

Scarbrough flipped through photos and videos of Robinson on her phone. She showed photos of her daughter’s recent trip to Jamaica in January and talked about their favorite traditions, like meals through the Milwaukee Area Technical College culinary programs they did each year to celebrate their birthdays together — Scarbrough’s on April 27 and Robinson’s on May 10.

“She takes me out to MATC, they have a little cuisine school out there, a chef school,” Scarbrough said. “I said, ‘did you book mommy’s birthday tickets?’ I had just said that Sunday.”

The next day, Robinson was reported missing after not showing up for work. Scarbrough has been left with little sleep or appetite since then.

Police received a call the day after Robinson went missing that a car had been torched. It was later confirmed to be hers, Scarbrough said.

And as the search for Robinson continues, another investigation has loomed.

April 2, police found a severed human leg near Lake Michigan at Warnimont Park in Cudahy. In the week-plus since, police have found other human remains around Milwaukee.

Officials have not publicly connected the human remains to Robinson. But Scarbrough and other relatives have met with the prosecutor in the case. A person of interest in that case, 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson, appeared in court Tuesday as prosecutors asked for more time to make a charging decision. In court, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan, a member of the office’s homicide unit, said authorities found blood on the stairwell of Anderson’s house and on a comforter and are waiting on blood testing.

Scarbrough attended the hearing, accompanied by a victim advocate. She declined to comment Tuesday on that investigation.

Scarbrough did say she didn't know of any connection between Anderson and her daughter and that he didn't seem like the company she would keep. But she had strong words for Anderson or whoever may have been involved with her daughter’s disappearance.

"At this point, as a mother, I know somebody harmed my baby and I'm going to need that person held fully accountable," she said. "That individual will be haunted eternally."

'Her whole life was so ahead of her'

Robinson was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and moved to Milwaukee with her mother before she turned 2. She then split her time between here and Florida, where her father Carlos Robinson lives. Scarbrough said she and Robinson's father never married, but tried their best to co-parent.

By late 2019, Robinson had returned to Milwaukee to live with her mother again.

Scarbrough was always impressed by her daughter’s initiative, like when she graduated from high school a semester early after moving from Florida. She recalled her surprise when Robinson asked to be driven to a job interview, something Scarbrough didn't know was even in the works.

Robinson worked at Pizza Shuttle on Milwaukee’s east side as a cashier, where she was a favorite among coworkers and customers alike, a manager said.

Robinson was only a month away from finishing her associate degree in criminal justice at MATC. Scarbrough said her daughter was still figuring out her next steps, but was looking at joining the U.S. Air Force. The family has other veterans, with Robinson's grandfather a retired U.S. Navy veteran and her uncle a U.S. Army veteran, she said.

Robinson recently had gotten a passport and planned well with her money, self-funding recent trips to Jamaica and Atlanta.

The family is tight-knit, Scarbrough said, texting frequently and having groups on the family tracking app Life360. Robinson's last location on the app has been a source for searches, she said.

Scarbrough said she was a standout older sister, even getting her little sister Adrianna a job at the Wisconsin Club, where Robinson worked a second job, and often picked her sister up for work.

She lived in a small "bachelorette" apartment and her grandmother Linda would often visit her, where Robinson loved to cook seafood for her, Scarbrough said.

"Her whole life was so ahead of her, she was so, so amazing. So beautiful, such a beautiful angel. Everywhere she went, people just admired my baby," Scarbrough said.

Searching for Robinson for more than a week

The search for Robinson began April 1, when she didn’t show up for her shift at the Pizza Shuttle on Milwaukee’s east side. In the days since, police, friends, family and community members have been searching for Robinson, looking for evidence.

The searches have been, at times, helpful, such as when a community group, searching where other human remains had been discovered, found a blanket Robinson had kept in her car.

Scarbrough said she’s been too exhausted to participate, inundated with media, community outreach and the emotional toll of her missing daughter.

Scarbrough recalled the last texts the two shared, checking in on each other. Robinson asked for $15 through CashApp. The request was odd, Scarbrough said, as Robinson made good money at her work, but she figured she needed some extra cash to pay for her favorite meal at JJ Fish & Chicken.

“She said ‘Thank you. I love you,’” Scarbrough said.

The two investigations are weighing heavily on Scarbrough.

"This is my worst nightmare," she said. "Who would do this to my daughter, who would harm or hurt my daughter?"

On social media, she's shared numerous photos of her daughter, often with the hashtag #JusticeforSade, and she hopes to rally public support for information on what happened. She said she's grown frustrated with the pace and results of the police investigation — with family friends' searches turning up things like the blanket — but is trying to "let them lead and do this investigation thoroughly. I need this individual fully charged."

Scarbrough urged anyone with information to share it. Police asked anyone with information to call 414-935-7252.

Ebony Cox of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Missing Sade Robinson's mother: 'I know somebody harmed my baby'