Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor criticized a city alderman for placing a photo of a severed arm belonging to a murdered 19-year-old woman and splashing it across social media.
Taylor said in a statement Turner at no time contacted the Waukegan Police command staff or anyone within Waukegan City government to ask about the discovery of the arm before posting the photo of the remains on Facebook.
Taylor added Turner was also never given permission to post the photo on his Facebook page and that doing so was “morally disgusting, socially irresponsible, and extremely cruel to the victim’s family.”
Turner did not comment when reached by Lake and McHenry County Scanner about the incident.
In addition, family members grieving the murder of Sade Robinson of Milwaukee told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they were disgusted to see the social media post from Turner.
“I respectfully want him held accountable,” Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarbrough, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I want him reprimanded.”
The arm was discovered at about 8 p.m. May 11 at the Waukegan Municipal Beach in the 200 block of East Sea Horse Drive.
A person walking along the beach saw what they believed to be a human arm on the ground.
Officers arrived and found the arm next to a fallen tree trunk at the beach.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office was notified and responded to the scene.
They confirmed the right arm was “mostly intact” from the shoulder down, according to Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Steve Newton.
The arm was transported to the coroner’s office where a forensic pathologist conducted an exam of it on Monday.
Newton said a forensic anthropologist has been requested to perform a further study.
The arm is believed to belong to a 19-year-old woman who was murdered on a date in Milwaukee.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office said they are working with a police department in a neighboring state on the investigation.
The police department’s crime lab is in the process of collecting DNA specimens from the arm for analysis.
Taylor said multiple law enforcement agencies believe there is a strong possibility the remains belong to Sade Robinson.
According to FOX6 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Robinson’s family was notified by investigators last Sunday about the discovery of the arm. The DNA testing is still pending.
“The City of Waukegan does not typically comment on ongoing criminal investigations, but l am making this statement as this incident is especially traumatic and has been made public by social media,” Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said.
“I hope all Waukeganites join me in prayer for the victim of this horrific crime and for the victim’s family,” Taylor said.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said last month that Robinson, 19, was murdered and dismembered around April 2.
A criminal complaint filed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said Maxwell S. Anderson, 33, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, intentionally killed Robinson, mutilated her remains and set fire to her car in an attempt to obscure potential evidence of the killing.
Robinson met up with Anderson for a first date on the evening of April 1 at the Twisted Fisherman restaurant in Milwaukee before she went missing, the complaint said.
The two were seen at the bar inside the restaurant eating and having drinks together before leaving just over an hour later.
The complaint said a severed human leg was later discovered at Warnimont Park in Cudahy, Wisconsin.
A severed human foot was later located in a wooded area near 31st Street and Galena in Milwaukee.
Both body parts were believed to belong to Robinson based on investigators’ analysis, according to the complaint. Other body parts were also discovered in separate locations in Milwaukee.
Anderson was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and arson.
Robinson’s family has continued to search for her remains. “The family is still actively searching and just wants closure and this to be able to move forward quickly,” said Dee-Dee Davis, an activist who has been working with the family, FOX6 reported.