Social Justice
Shanquella Robinson’s Death Reportedly Being Investigated As A Homicide After Disturbing Video Surfaces
Robinson was found dead at a Mexican resort from what authorities initially determined to be alcohol poisoning.
The death of Shanquella Robinson under mysterious circumstances is now being investigated as a homicide.
Shanquella Robinson’s death being probed as a homicide
Robinson was found dead at a Mexican resort from what authorities initially determined to be alcohol poisoning — but a new video has surfaced showing her being assaulted, changing the trajectory of the investigation.
The 25-year-old Charlotte, NC native, traveled on Oct. 28 with six friends to the resort city of San José del Cabo, where they stayed at the Fundadores Beach Club, WBTV reported.
The following day, Robinson was found dead at Villa Linda 32, and authorities launched a criminal investigation, according to WSOC-TV.
Her parents soon received a frantic phone call from Robinson’s friends, who told them she had died.
“They said she wasn’t feeling well, that it was alcohol poisoning,” Robinson’s mom, Sallamondra Robinson, told Queens City News.
She added, “Each one of the people that was there with her was telling different stories.”
Shortly after Robinson’s death, the U.S. State Department told Queen City News that there was no clear evidence that foul play was involved in Robinson’s death.
The family told WBTV that Mexican authorities also told them that Shanquella initially died of alcohol poisoning.
But the death certificate contradicts those claims, revealing that the cause of death was a “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” a nervous system dysfunction caused by misalignment of the top cervical vertebrae.
Alcohol is not mentioned on the death certificate.
The document lists the approximate time between injury and death as 15 minutes.
Robinson was found unconscious in a living room on the afternoon of Oct. 29, the death certificate says.
New video
On Wednesday (Nov. 16), a video surfaced showing a woman attacking Robinson.
Sallamondra Robinson told Good Morning America that someone had “called us [the family] and said that someone was fighting her over there.”
The mother identified the people in the video as the “friends” her daughter accompanied on the trip to Cabo.
The original source of the video is unclear, however, Sallamondra Robinson believes it was taken during the Cabo trip. In the video, a person can be heard asking if Shanquella “could at least fight back.”
“It was never a fight. She didn’t fight, they attacked her,” she told the WSOC.
Shanquella’s travel companions, who were not identified by the news station, could not be reached, the outlet reported. Four numbers were disconnected and two numbers went to voicemail. Text messages to those numbers were not returned.
Homicide investigation
The FBI has now opened a criminal investigation. FBI officials said they are aware of the new footage that has made its rounds on social media and encouraged “anyone with related photos or video to contact” the agency, WTIV reported.
On Thursday, the State Attorney General’s Office in Mexico confirmed the autopsy results and said that “an investigation was initiated for femicide,” ABC News reported.
Femicide is considered a hate crime in which a girl or woman is killed because of their gender.
No one has been charged with any crimes relating to the incident.
Celebration of life
Shanquella Robinson’s funeral will take place on Saturday, Nov. 19.
The wake will be from 11 a.m. until noon followed by the funeral at Macedonia Baptist Church, 1300 Hatteras Ave. in Charlotte. It is open to the public.
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Politics
Lil Scrappy, Big Freedia, Mia X, Cookie Nasty, and more artists partner with Hip Hop Caucus for a Political Rap Cypher
Released just under one week before the most important presidential election of our time, these rappers focused on issue advocacy and dropped powerful bars on the importance of voting, voting rights and democracy, civil rights, economic justice, and environmental justice – all issues that affect people of color the most and some of the pressing issues and deciding factors in this year’s election.
Some of hip hop’s most influential voices, Lil Scrappy, Big Freedia Mia X, Lee Merritt, Cookie Nasty, and Trae Crockett have joined musical forces to partner with Hip Hop Caucus to release a powerful political cypher as a final push to encourage people to head to polls and vote.
Hip Hop political cypher
Released just under one week before the most important presidential election of our time, these rappers focused on issue advocacy and dropped powerful bars on the importance of voting, voting rights and democracy, civil rights, economic justice, and environmental justice – all issues that affect people of color the most and some of the pressing issues and deciding factors in this year’s election.
The power of voting
Hip Hop Caucus is no stranger to leveraging the power of music, celebrity, and activism, launching their Respect My Vote! Campaign and Tour earlier this year, which included activists to reach and educate communities of color about political and social issues, and mobilize people to vote for the change they want to see on November 5.
The message is clear that we cannot afford not to cast our ballots this election, with Mia X stating, “Say it with my chest, imma step for my rights, 10 toes down …my choice, my freedoms my voice, my votes and “if you don’t vote you don’t matter”.
Watch the cypher
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Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Health & Wellness
Amber Nicole Thurman died from delayed care due to Georgia’s abortion laws, says family
Thurman died after waiting 20 hours in pain for a hospital to treat a rare complication from taking an abortion pill, she had to obtain in North Carolina.
Amber Nicole Thurman was a vibrant, healthy 28-year-old Georgia woman who tragically died due to abortion laws and medical neglect, her family says.
Amber Nicole Thurman’s life could have been preventable
According to reports, Thurman died after waiting 20 hours in pain for a hospital to treat a rare complication from taking an abortion pill that she had to obtain in North Carolina. She needed a routine procedure, a dilation and curettage (D&C), to clear residual tissue from her uterus.
Did abortion laws cause problems for the mother?
But she reportedly couldn’t get the help she needed. New abortion laws in Georgia made conducting this essential medical procedure a felony unless in an emergency situation.
Georgia’s LIFE Act took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022 and banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, effectively prohibiting abortions beyond around six weeks of pregnancy, and criminalized performing one with limited exceptions.
Thurman had sought help at a local hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia. Even as Thurman developed sepsis, her family says doctors at the hospital did not evacuate the remaining fetal tissue in her uterus with the (D&C). Unfortunately, she later died on the operating table, reports ProPublica.
After Thurman’s death, a Fulton County Superior Court judge struck down the law, stating the law violates Georgia’s Constitution, reports NewsWeek.
ProPublica reported that Georgia’s maternal mortality committee also found that Thurman’s death was completely preventable. When her family learned this, they were devastated once again and their grief intensified affirming that Amber should not have died.
GoFundMe
As Thurman’s family struggles to cope with their grief and anger, they are striving to care for Amber’s son the way she wanted and have started a GoFundMe.
“The funds through this site will support Amber’s son for his immediate needs and for his future. This includes mental health and grief counseling for him and Amber’s family,” the GoFundMe reads.
According to the family, the funds will also support the family’s fight for justice for Amber and women’s rights over their own bodies.
“Amber was a devoted mother to her 6-year-old son and had dreams of becoming a nurse while she worked as a medical assistant. Amber hoped to provide a bright future for herself and her son, but that was stolen from her, and we cannot stand by as this happens to more women.”
Visit the GoFundMe to donate and for more information.
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Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
Social Justice
Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ sue Trump for defamation after debate comments
The lawsuit stems from Trump’s remarks during the presidential debate last month.
The five men from the infamous Central Park case who call themselves the Exonerated Five have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump.
The lawsuit stems from his remarks during the presidential debate last month.
Exonerated Five lawsuit against Donald Trump
During the Sept. 10 debate in Pennsylvania, Trump said the five men, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, pleaded guilty when they were tried in connection with the assault and rape of a woman who had been running in Central Park on April 19, 1989, and that the victim had died.
During the debate he said: “They admitted, they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty, then they pled we’re not guilty.”
At the time of the trials, each men had actually pleaded not guilty, and the victim of the attack survived.
According to the complaint, Trump’s statements are “demonstrably false,” adding that “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing. Further the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.”
The complaint further added that the men, now in their 50s, have “suffered injuries as a result of Defendant Trump’s false and defamatory statements.”
Falsely accused
The Exonerated Five, who were just teenagers when they were indicted, had always maintained their innocence throughout their separate trials and incarceration.
Each were charged with the assault of the female jogger, as well as other assaults and robberies in Central Park.
They five spent years in prison before they were exonerated in 2002 after DNA evidence linked another man, a serial rapist, to the crime. The city agreed in a legal settlement to pay the exonerated men $41 million.
This happened during a time of heightened racial tensions coupled with the case dominating headlines. Trump, then a real estate mogul, had taken out large ads in newspapers referencing the case calling for New York to bring back the death penalty.
The defamation suit was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The complaint noted that Salaam, a New York City Council member representing District 9, was at the debate and in the room when Trump made the statements.
In the lawsuit the men did not specify damages and asked for a trial to determine the amount.
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Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.
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