Extradition Process Underway After NC Woman Dies in Mexico

Shanquella Robinson died as a result of 'direct attack' involving friend, prosecutors say
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 18, 2022 2:55 PM CST
Updated Nov 25, 2022 4:13 AM CST
After American's Death in Mexico, Family Wants Answers
Stock photo of the shoreline in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.   (Getty Images/Justin Bartels)
UPDATE Nov 25, 2022 4:13 AM CST

Prosecutors in Mexico are working to extradite a female friend of a North Carolina woman who was found dead in a vacation rental property in Cabo San Lucas. Authorities say 25-year-old Shanquelle Robinson died as the result of a "direct attack" involving one of her friends last month and they have obtained an arrest warrant for a woman now believed to be in the US, CNN reports. Video posted online shows Robinson, whose friends initially claimed she had alcohol poisoning, being beaten by another woman, her father says. The FBI's field office says it is also investigating Robinson's death, reports the New York Times. Authorities have not released the names of the six friends Robinson traveled to Mexico with.

Nov 18, 2022 2:55 PM CST

The US State Department has confirmed the death of a 25-year-old North Carolina woman while she was vacationing in Mexico, but the circumstances surrounding her death are murky and her parents are seeking answers. BuzzFeed News reports that Shanquella Robinson of Charlotte was found dead Oct. 29 in her hotel room at San Jose del Cabo's Villa Linda 32, during a vacation with a half-dozen friends. Robinson's mother, Salamondra Robinson, tells WSAZ that the last time she spoke with her daughter was the night before, the Friday she'd left Charlotte, and that on Saturday her daughter's friends phoned her to inform her that Shanquella wasn't feeling well and that they were calling a doctor. "They said she had alcohol poisoning," Salamondra Robinson says.

Per prosecutors, police found Shanquella's body in her villa that day, reports the AP. Bernard Robinson, Shanquella's father, tells WSOC that the group of friends was back in Charlotte by later Saturday and informed him and his wife that their daughter had died, once again saying it was from alcohol poisoning. But a death certificate seen by WSOC indicates Shanquella Robinson died of "severe spinal cord injury" and "atlas luxation," which is described by WRIC as "instability in the uppermost vertebrae." There's no mention of alcohol on the certificate, and for a question on the form asking whether the death was "accidental or violent," someone simply marked "yes."

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Complicating matters is a video that has emerged online, showing a woman who appears to be American beating another woman, while a man with an American accent who doesn't intervene can be heard saying, "Can you at least fight back?" Salamondra Robinson says the woman being attacked is her daughter, and that the people with her are the friends she went to Cabo with. It's not definitive the video was shot in Cabo, though it appears to be so, per the AP. As for the varying explanations they say they've heard from their daughter's friends, Salamondra Robinson tells WRIC: "No one told the same story." The outlet notes a representative for the hotel says the group of friends had asked the concierge to call for a doctor on the afternoon of Oct. 29, and that despite the doctor performing CPR, Shanquella Robinson died around 3pm. Mexican officials say an investigation is ongoing. (More Mexico stories.)

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