Social Justice
New Police Report Shows Shanquella Robinson Was Alive When Medical Help Arrived
The report is starkly different from the previously reported death certificate that said Robinson died within 15 minutes of being injured.
Newly released information from a police report says Shanquella Robinson was alive when medical help first arrived on the scene.
Shanquella Robinson police report
The report is starkly different from the previously reported death certificate that said Robinson died within 15 minutes of being injured.
The police report obtained by The Charlotte Observer, shows a doctor from a local hospital was with Robinson and others in the house for close to three hours before she was pronounced dead.
Medical help was summoned to Villa Linda 32 at 2:13 p.m. on Oct. 29. About an hour later, Dr. Karolina Beatriz Ornelas Gutiérrez, of the American Medical Center, arrived to treat Robinson, according to report excerpts.
House calls to vacation rentals for non-emergency medical services are routine in tourist hubs in Mexico, reports The Observer.
The report does not reveal who called for medical help, but the reporting person is listed as Wenter Donovan, of Greensboro. Donovan is confirmed as one of six people identified by family, friends and media sources as a person Robinson was traveling with, reports The Observer.
The police report excerpt is written in Spanish. According to a Charlotte Observer’s translation of the documentation, Dr. Gutiérrez says she was told Robinson had “drunk a lot of alcohol” and the medical call was for Robinson to “be given an IV.”
The police record indicates Gutiérrez found “a female” — understood in the report to be Robinson — with stable vital signs but dehydrated, unable to communicate verbally and appearing to be inebriated.
The doctor reported that she believed Robinson needed to be transferred to a hospital but her friends insisted that she be treated in the villa. Dr. Gutiérrez attempted an IV but was unsuccessful, according to the report excerpt. It’s unclear what medication was in the IV.
The doctor was there for approximately an hour when Robinson began having a seizure. The convulsions from the seizure lasted less than a minute, according to the report.
“At this point the patient’s friend, named Wenter Donovan, called 911 to request an ambulance,” according to the Observer’s Spanish to English translation of the report. This was around 4:20 p.m.
“In the meantime, the patient presented with difficulty breathing and a lowered pulse, and they gave her rescue breaths.”
The doctor, along with a friend, began administering CPR at 4:49 p.m. when Gutierrez detected Robinson had stopped having a pulse.
Police arrived and talked with the doctor who was treating Robinson at 5:25 p.m. It’s unclear from the information in the police report exactly what time an ambulance arrived from the 911 call.
The report indicates paramedics “administered a total of 14 rounds of CPR, five doses of adrenaline and six discharges (AED shocks) without success.”
Unable to revive Robinson, Gutierrez “declared her dead at 5:57 p.m.,” according to the report excerpt.
The police report lists “deceased person (cardiopulmonary arrest)“ as the reasoning why police were called.
What happened to Shanquella Robinson?
On Oct. 28, Robinson, 25, left Charlotte, North Carolina to go on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico. A day later, she was dead.
Sallamondra Robinson, Shanquella’s mother, told various news outlets that each friend from the trip had different stories and they initially told her that her daughter had died from alcohol poisoning.
As we previously reported, official autopsy reports contradicted their statements, listing the cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation.”
Investigation
Mexican authorities are investigating Robinson’s death as a possible femicide, the State Attorney General’s Office of Baja California Sur announced in a statement Thursday, according to ABC News.
Femicide is considered a hate crime in which a girl or woman is killed because of their gender.
The FBI has also opened up an investigation into Robinson’s death, the agency confirmed in a statement to various media outlets.
A video of a fight has gone viral and Robinson’s mother told CBS News she recognizes her daughter in the footage.
The footage shows a naked woman, barely verbal, being brutally hit and punched in the face multiple times by another woman until she falls to the ground. A person not seen in the video is heard saying “Quella can you at least fight back?” The FBI says they are aware of the video.
The fight for justice
The family continues to seek answers into Shanquella’s death and have started a GoFundMe to raise money for legal fees.
“The United States State Department released a statement claiming “no clear evidence of foul play,” yet there is a video circulating of a woman violently attacking Shanquella,” the GoFundMe read. “This statement is unacceptable, and we are beyond devastated. We continue to fight for the truth.”
As of Monday afternoon, the page had raised $366,305, exceeding its $350,000 goal. This included a $65,000 donation from Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving.
Robinson’s life was celebrated on Nov. 19 in her native of Charlotte.
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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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