Social Justice
U.S. prosecutors will not bring charges in Shanquella Robinson’s case
Robinson, 25, died on October 29, 2022, while on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico.
Federal U.S. prosecutors will not file criminal charges in the death of Shanquella Robinson, they announced in a statement Wednesday.
Robinson, 25, died on October 29, 2022, while on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico.
US prosecutors decline to file charges in Shanquella Robinson murder case
In their statement announcing no US charges, United States Attorney Dena King and the FBI said there was not enough evidence of wrongdoing to issue criminal charges in the case.
“Based on the results of the autopsy and after a careful deliberation and review of the investigative materials by both U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal prosecutors informed Ms. Robinson’s family today that the available evidence does not support a federal prosecution.”
Robinson’s family met with King and investigators from the FBI late Wednesday morning. The family held a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Shanquella Robinson dies under mysterious circumstances
Robinson was found dead at a Mexican resort from what authorities initially determined to be alcohol poisoning — but when a new video surfaced showing her being assaulted, it changed 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 frantic phone calls 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.”
Shanquella’s death certificate revealed the initial cause of death to be a “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” a nervous system dysfunction caused by misalignment of the top cervical vertebrae.
Alcohol was not mentioned on the death certificate.
But a new autopsy conducted by the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner has determined Robinson’s spine was intact, Robinson family attorney Sue-Ann Robinson said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Robinson’s family sought the autopsy by a US medical examiner following questions about her death.
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.
Investigation
There are no updates on how Mexico authorities will proceed.
Last year, State Attorney General’s Office in Mexico 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 death of Shanquella Robinson.
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