Shanquella Robinson.
WhenShanquella Robinsonarrived in Mexico on Oct. 28, 2022, her mom called her to make sure she’d made it safely to the luxury villa at which she was staying with six friends from her hometown of Charlotte, N.C.
“She said they were all having a good time, and I told her I’d talk to her tomorrow,” Shanquella’s mother, Sallamondra Robinson, tells PEOPLE. “And I never spoke to my daughter again.”
The following day, Sallamondra received a phone call from one of Shanquella’s friends, Khalil Cooke, who was on the trip with her. He said Shanquella had alcohol poisoning and needed medical attention. Four hours later, he called again and said Shanquella had died.
“I was just sick because I couldn’t get there,” Sallamondra says. “It made me sick to the stomach.”
Sallamondra remembers her youngest daughter as having “a kind heart” and being “a loving person.”
“She’d give you the shirt off her back,” Sallamondra says. “She didn’t harm people, and she wasn’t a drama person.”
Shanquella is naked and barely verbal as she is hit and kicked multiple times in the graphic video.
After the video surfaced, Mexican authorities opened an investigation into Shanquella’s death and eventually labeled it a case of femicide — a gender-based murder and hate crime — according tothe Robinson family attorneys, who wrote a letter to President Biden and Antony Blinken asking for U.S. criminal charges.
Inside the letter, they included Shanquella’s autopsy, which was done in Mexico one day after her death. Her cause of death is listed as “atlas and medullary dislocation” — a broken neck and spine — and the manner of death is violent.
It also details other injuries on Shanquella’s body, including contusions to the “frontal region of her head” and both of her hip bones and a friction burn on her left ankle.
According to attorneys for the Robinson family, Mexico authorities identified the woman beating Shanquella in the video as one of her travel companions, and they have since issued an arrest warrant for her.
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Despite the findings in Mexico, on April 12, the United States Department of Justice announced they won’t filecharges in connection with Shanquella’s death.
In a press release, the department said federal authorities conducted an autopsy on Shanquella in North Carolina, and that based on the available evidence, authorities “have concluded that federal charges cannot be pursued.”
Sue-Ann said according to the Department of Justice, the autopsy performed in the U.S. months after Shanquella’s death did not show a spinal injury like the autopsy conducted in Mexico did. She also said the cause of death from the U.S. autopsy is undetermined.
“Her attack was captured on video and now we are being told there won’t be an arrest,” she added. “It reminded me of George Floyd. When we were told we weren’t seeing what we were seeing.”
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Sue-Ann claimed that Shanquella’s case was not taken seriously since the beginning, which has caused discrepancies in the investigation.
“Today we ended up with way more questions than answers,” Sue-Ann added during the press conference. “We stand with this family, and we’re going to stand with this family until the very end.”
Supporte.Amanda Harry/QCity Metro
Mario Black, Founder of Million Youth March of Charlotte and a community activist in Charlotte, told PEOPLE that Shanquella’s family “can’t begin their healing process that they need until justice is served.”
According to Sue-Ann, the Robinson family and their supporters will rally in Washington D.C. on May 19 to continue fighting for criminal charges in the U.S.
“The last message that our government wants to send to anyone is that you can commit crimes against U.S. citizens abroad and then flee back to the US and hide,” Sue-Ann told PEOPLE.
“Shanquella was a person,” Sue-Ann said. “She braided kids' hair. She was educated. And she’s a missed, loved, sister and daughter.”
source: people.com
