Shanquella Robinson’s mother calls for justice on 2-year anniversary of daughter’s death
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Shanquella Robinson Death Investigation
The 25-year-old Charlotte woman died while on vacation in Cabo, Mexico.
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On the two-year anniversary of Shanquella Robinson’s death Tuesday, her mother said she hoped a lawsuit filed this week would bring her family justice.
Standing at a lectern at the Little Rock African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in uptown surrounded by loved ones and her attorney, Sallamondra Robinson spoke about her daughter, how her mysterious death impacts her family, and the frustration they feel knowing that no one has been held accountable.
“I’m fed up with this stuff,” Sallamondra Robinson said to a crowd of nearly two dozen people, some wearing clothing donning Shanquella’s name and face. “I need justice for my child.”
Difficult for family to grieve
On Oct. 29, 2022, Shanquella Robinson died under suspicious circumstances at a resort villa in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Her travel companions told authorities and Shanquella’s family she died of alcohol poisoning.
But her family believed her death was violent. An autopsy report and death certificate, as well as a video of a woman beating on a naked Robinson, supported their assertion.
Authorities said Robinson died of a broken neck, and specifically named the cause of her death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation.”
Sallamondra Robinson said she knows the lawsuit won’t bring her daughter back, but something needs to be done after the FBI “pushed my daughter under the rug, when you should have been arresting these people.”
She said the long wait has made it difficult for the family to grieve. Each year they now have to think about the anniversary of Shanquella’s death, making it difficult to ease their minds, she said.
Quilla Long, Shanquella Robinson’s older sister, said it was “a blessing” to have people show up for the press conference. The family held a balloon release on Saturday at Shanquella’s grave with a big turnout, Sallamondra Robinson said.
Long said she is ready to see the six travel companions face charges for what happened to her sister.
“Our lives have been uncomfortable since the death of my sister,” Long said. “So if we can do anything to make the six uncomfortable, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
Lawsuit details allegations
Attorney Sue-Ann Robinson, who is not related to the Robinson family, filed a lawsuit against Shanquella Robinson’s six travel companions in Mecklenburg County Superior Court on Monday.
The lawsuit alleges multiple counts of wrongful death, battery, negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress. It also names the U.S. Department of State and the FBI as defendants.
“The lack of justice serves as a painful, painful reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by individuals, especially young Black women, when they seek adventure in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar faces,” said Robinson, the founder of Frontline Law. “It is our responsibility to ensure that such tragedies do not go unanswered.”
The 43-page lawsuit alleges “the Cabo Six” had a hand in Shanquella’s death, either directly or by failing to act to help her when she needed medical attention, and then made an effort to lie and conceal what actually happened in Mexico and after arriving back in North Carolina.
“Defendant Daejhanae (Jackson) and Defendant Khalil (Cooke) came to Sallamondra Robinson’s home, and returned Shanquella’s suitcase,” the lawsuit said. “In Sallamondra Robinson’s home, while she was grieving the immeasurable loss of her child, Defendant Daejhanae and Defendant Khalil offered their condolences for Shanquella passing from ‘alcohol poisoning.’”
Jackson was the other woman seen in the video beating on Shanquella, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleged that the State Department did not properly handle an extradition request for Jackson.
“This failure to submit the extradition request has permitted international fugitive Defendant Daejhanae to avoid facing legal proceedings for the murder she committed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico,” the lawsuit said.
Sue-Ann Robinson said the Mexican authorities told her they had taken all necessary steps for extradition and presented an investigation packet to the State Department, who would then work with a U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Carolina to authorize the extradition.
The FBI and the State Department have not given any indication that they are going to initiate that procedure so far, she said.
Secrecy from FBI
In addition to the allegations against the travel companions, the lawsuit said the FBI denied the family attorney’s request for records related to the agency’s investigation into Shanquella’s death.
The FBI previously said it would not pursue criminal charges after completing its investigation.
Sue-Ann Robinson’s first request for information came four months after the FBI closed its investigation, the lawsuit said. But the FBI wouldn’t provide records, saying they were exempt from disclosure and release would “interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
The family attorney made a second records request a year after the FBI closed the case; the FBI responded that it would take over five years to provide records, according to the lawsuit.
At the press conference, Sue-Ann Robinson said the FBI response was unacceptable. Witnesses could begin to forget important memories, she said, or give the travel companions time to “create new stories, create new memories.” It delays justice, she said.
“They have not communicated with us anything other than stating that we can wait another five years for a response to our public records request on what they did,” Sue-Ann Robinson said. “We don’t have an option. Their actions have led us to this point.”
Relying on faith
Sallamondra Robinson held hands in a circle with friends, family and her lawyer and bowed her head a few minutes before the press conference.
She still has faith in God, she said. Her faith has been especially important during the last two years.
“Even though I lost a child, it was her time, I guess,” she said. “It’s not about her leaving me. It’s about how they done her. They don’t deserve to be walking around like it’s nothing wrong. But I know God is good. And believe God got it. I know he got it. I don’t have to believe it, I know it.”
Observer staff writer Briah Lumpkins contributed.
