U.S. Authorities Won’t Bring Charges in Shanquella Robinson Case

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What’s known so far about the 25-year-old’s tragic death at a resort town in Mexico.

Last October, authorities began probing the death of 25-year-old Shanquella Robinson. Initially, officials believed she died of alcohol poisoning while vacationing in Mexico with friends, but after a violent viral video surfaced they opened a federal investigation. This week, prosecutors announced they will not be bringing charges. Here’s the latest on the case.

What happened to Shanquella Robinson in Mexico?

Robinson and her friends arrived in San José del Cabo on Oct. 28. The following day a doctor was called to attend to Robinson at the vacation rental where she and her friends were staying, according to a police report obtained by the Charlotte Observer. The doctor was told Robinson had “drunk a lot of alcohol.” At the time, she was allegedly dehydrated and unable to communicate, but her vital signs were stable. 

According to the police report, the doctor wanted to bring Robinson to a hospital but her friends insisted she remain there. An ambulance was called after Robinson began to have a seizure. When no pulse was found, the doctor and a friend performed CPR, but couldn’t revive her. 

Robinson’s mother, Sallamondra Robinson, told a Charlotte news station that her daughter’s friends called her the next day saying that she had died of alcohol poisoning. However, a death certificate listed the cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury.” 

Robinson’s parents have since been demanding answers. “All I’ve been doing is just crying trying to figure out what happened,” Robinson’s father, Bernard Robinson, said.

The disturbing video of Shanquella Robinson that changed the course of the case

Last year, a video began circulating online that, according to Robinson’s father, shows his daughter being brutally beaten. In the video, blows are repeatedly delivered to a person’s head and body. At one point, a man can be heard saying: “Quella, can you at least fight back?”

“It was her,” Bernard Robinson told The New York Times. “She’s not a fighter. She didn’t believe in drama. She wasn’t raised like that.”

Why prosecutors won’t bring charges in the Shanquella Robinson case

Mexican prosecutors determined last year that Robinson died of a “direct attack, not an accident.” In a statement released at the time, they said they were looking to extradite a woman from the U.S. who they believe committed femicide (the killing of a woman because of her gender). They confirmed the suspect is a friend of the victim’s, but didn’t identify her.

But in the months since, the case stalled, frustrating Robinson’s family, who last month pleaded with President Biden to intervene.