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There will be no federal charges in Shanquella Robinson's death, the DOJ says

Ayana Archie

Federal charges will not be pursued in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American woman found dead in Mexico last October while on vacation, authorities announced Wednesday.

"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," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina said.

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Mexico immigration agency chief will be charged in migrant center fire that killed 40.

Robinson, from Charlotte, N.C., traveled to San José del Cabo with several friends the day prior. Robinson's friends originally told her family that she died from alcohol poisoning, which ran counter to a death certificate obtained from Charlotte television station, WSOC-TV.

The federal government said it would review new information in the case if it became available.

The attorney for Robinson's family, Ben Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, claimed there is a discrepancy between the autopsies done in the U.S. and Mexico.

"While it is discouraging for the loved ones of Shanquella that their own Department of Justice will not be pursuing charges against Shanquella's aggressor, it is our stance that justice is still possible for her death," they said. "We hope that there is still a chance at justice in Mexico."

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Mexican Prosecutors Seek to Extradite Suspect in Death of American Woman

Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., had traveled last month to Mexico with six friends, according to her father. “I just want justice for my daughter,” he said.

mexico friend trip killing

By Michael Levenson and Jesus Jiménez

Mexican authorities are seeking to extradite a suspect in the death of an American woman near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, after a video that circulated online appeared to show another woman beating her as someone else recorded the assault on a phone.

The state attorney general’s office of Baja California Sur, in Mexico, said in a statement on Thursday that it had issued an arrest warrant for a woman as “the likely responsible” person in the case, adding that an investigation indicated that the death was the result of a “direct attack, not an accident.” Mexican authorities did not name the suspect.

The F.B.I. has also opened an investigation into the death of Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., who traveled last month to Mexico with six friends, according to her father, Bernard Robinson.

Some of those friends initially told Ms. Robinson’s mother that Ms. Robinson had died of alcohol poisoning, Mr. Robinson said. But a death certificate issued by Mexican officials and obtained by a Charlotte television station, WSOC-TV , listed the cause of death on Oct. 29 as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” or the dislocation of a ring-shaped bone that supports the skull.

The certificate stated that Ms. Robinson was found unconscious in a living room at an address in San José del Cabo, Mexico, and died about 15 minutes after she was injured. It did not mention alcohol poisoning.

Mr. Robinson said he was shocked that the Mexican authorities had allowed his daughter’s friends to leave the country after her death. She had flown from Charlotte to Mexico on Oct. 28, he said, one day before she died.

“I can’t talk for her, but I am going to be her voice,” Mr. Robinson said in an interview on Tuesday. “I’m going to be her voice to the end because I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

The F.B.I. field office in Charlotte confirmed that it had opened the investigation into Ms. Robinson’s death but said it would have no further comment. The State Department referred questions about the investigation to the F.B.I., but said that it provides consular assistance to family members when an American citizen dies abroad.

“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” the State Department said in a statement. “Out of respect for their privacy, we have no further comment at this time.”

Ms. Robinson graduated from West Charlotte High School and had attended Winston-Salem State University, where she met some of the others — four women and two men — who traveled to Mexico with her, according to her father.

Mr. Robinson said his daughter grew up loving gymnastics and ran her own business braiding children’s hair.

“She was a growing, sweet-hearted person — loved people, loved her friends, loved to have fun,” Mr. Robinson said. “Just a smart, intelligent person.”

He said he did not know why anyone would attack his daughter. But he said that he recognized her in a video that has drawn attention online. According to Mr. Robinson, it shows Ms. Robinson in a bedroom, being repeatedly punched in the head and kicked by a woman as a man stands nearby and says, “Quella, can you at least fight back?”

“It was her,” Mr. Robinson said. “She’s not a fighter. She didn’t believe in drama. She wasn’t raised like that.”

The state attorney general’s office of Baja California Sur confirmed that an investigation had begun into a femicide, or the killing of a woman because of her gender. The office said it had received a call at about 6:15 p.m. on Oct. 29 from a “public security member” who reported the death of a foreign woman in a house in the Fundadores Beach Club area in San José del Cabo.

Investigators went to the scene and were collecting “more evidence to achieve the accurate clarification of the events, without ruling out any hypothesis,” the office said in a statement on Nov. 17, according to ABC News .

The Charlotte Observer reported that it had obtained a police report showing that a doctor had attended to Ms. Robinson after someone called for medical help at a vacation home at 2:13 p.m. on Oct. 29.

The doctor was told that Ms. Robinson had “drunk a lot of alcohol” and found her with stable vital signs, but dehydrated, unable to communicate and appearing to be inebriated, the police report stated, according to The Observer.

The report stated that the doctor wanted Ms. Robinson to be taken to a hospital but that her friends insisted she be treated at the home, according to The Observer.

The doctor tried unsuccessfully to give Ms. Robinson an intravenous line and was there for nearly an hour when Ms. Robinson began to have a seizure, prompting a friend to call for an ambulance, the police report stated, according to The Observer.

The doctor and one of the woman’s friends began CPR at 4:49 p.m. when the doctor detected no pulse, The Observer reported.

Paramedics administered additional rounds of CPR, as well as adrenaline and discharges from an automated external defibrillator, the report stated. Ms. Robinson was declared dead at 5:57 p.m., it stated.

Ms. Robinson’s funeral drew hundreds of mourners on Saturday to a church in Charlotte. Mr. Robinson said he was “hurting to the core” after losing his daughter.

“I just want justice for my daughter,” he said. “She’s gone, so right now her dad is going to stand and be her voice to the utmost and the fullest. I’m not going to let this go.”

Michael Levenson joined The Times in December 2019. He was previously a reporter at The Boston Globe, where he covered local, state and national politics and news. More about Michael Levenson

Jesus Jiménez is a breaking news reporter. More about Jesus Jiménez

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Family of NC woman killed on Mexico vacation reveals friend is a suspect, begs Biden for extradition

Shanquella robinson's family attorneys calling for daejhanae jackson to face charges in mexico.

American woman attacked in Mexico on video

American woman attacked in Mexico on video

North Carolina woman Shanquella Robinson was beaten in Mexico in a video obtained by the New York Post. Robinson later died.

Attorneys for the family of a North Carolina killed on vacation in Mexico revealed the name of a friend suspected in the mysterious death – and are calling on President Biden to have her extradited to Mexico.

Mexican authorities have an arrest warrant out for U.S. citizen Daejhanae Jackson, 26, related to the October 2022 death of hairdresser Shanquella Robinson in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, attorneys said in a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken obtained by Fox News Digital .

"On behalf of the family of Shanquella Robinson, we write to request immediate diplomatic intervention from the United States Government in this transnational criminal case," said the letter from attorneys Benjamin L. Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, no relation.

A witness identified Jackson as the woman seen in a social media video attacking Robinson inside the villa that travel mates were sharing in a luxury villa, the letter said.

"An autopsy report prepared on October 30th, 2022 in Mexico by Medical Examiner Dr. Rene Adalberto Galvaan Osegura noted that Shanquella’s body had a head injury 3 and concluded that Shanquella’s cause of death was a broken neck," the letter stated.

RALLY HELD FOR SHANQUELLA ROBINSON; FATHER DESCRIBES MOMENT HE SAW HER BODY: 'ALL I WANT IS JUSTICE'

Shanquella Robinson

Shanquella Robinson, left, and video of Robinson being attacked in a hotel room. (Facebook)

"The President or the Secretary of State must step in and ask: for the extradition of the suspect or suspects or concurrent jurisdiction and file charges in the United States," the attorneys said in a press release.

The letter explained that Jackson and two other travel mates, Khalil Cooke and Wenter Donovan, took Robinson’s luggage back to her home in Charlotte, North Carolina , and gave condolences to Robinson’s mother, claiming her daughter had died from alcohol poisoning.

Once the video surfaced in November, a femicide investigation was launched by Mexican officials, and the lawyers for Robinson's family are asking the Biden administration to step in.

SHANQUELLA ROBINSON CASE NEEDS 'HIGH-LEVEL DIPLOMATIC INTERVENTION' AFTER MYSTERIOUS DEATH IN MEXICO: ATTORNEY

Shanquella Robinson

Shanquella Robinson's death was initially believed to be due to alcohol poisoning. (Facebook)

The 18-page document sent to the Biden administration said Jackson was the main point of contact for the group's seven travel companions. Robinson "did not seem to fit in with the others" and seemed "out of place" the day before receiving a call from Jackson that Robinson had suffered alcohol poisoning in the room, the letter alleges.

The letter included the witness statement from a hotel staff member identifying Jackson as the aggressor in the video posted on social media. The witness said in a statement that Jackson "manipulated me" with the information she initially provided at the scene in order to "leave the country as soon as possible."

Robinson was declared dead after two sets of medical professionals responded over the course of several hours. The staff member said that Jackson gave him an "indifferent" hug when he offered his condolences and claimed he heard "laughing" from the room after he walked out in order to give the friends space.

THREE WOMEN MISSING IN MEXICO AFTER CROSSING BORDER FROM TEXAS TO SELL CLOTHING AT FLEA MARKET

The group abruptly left the hotel a day later, on Oct. 30, and Jackson did not respond to a text message asking where she was until Oct. 31, when she informed the staff member the group was gone, the witness statement said.

"If a United States citizen commits homicide in Mexico and returns back to the United States, as you are aware they can face criminal charges in the United States under federal law or state law, depending on the circumstances of the crime," Robinson's attorneys said in the letter.

"Federal charges are brought in cases where the crime involves interstate commerce or federal law enforcement agencies," the attorneys added. "We know in a transnational case where evidence was possibly transported and persons of interest communicated with each other via cellphone federal charges could be brought against those responsible for Shanquella’s death."

MEXICO 'SAFER' THAN US FOLLOWING DEATH AND KIDNAPPINGS OF AMERICANS, MEXICAN PRESIDENT LOPEZ OBRADOR CLAIMS

The Club Fundadores

The Club Fundadores in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico. (Google Earth)

The letter said that the family has encountered "numerous obstacles" trying to get information, including during a trip to Mexico where attorney Robinson said the U.S. consulate suggested relatives should reach out directly to the travel mates if they want answers.

"Certainly this is an unacceptable response to share with an American family in regards to their daughter's murder," attorney Robinson said.

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Shanquella Robinson

Shanquella Robinson, 26, was killed while vacationing with friends in Mexico last year. (Frontline Law Group)

The State Department told Fox News Digital on Sunday that it has "no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas but does not comment on American citizens' private correspondence as a general matter of privacy."

"The Department does not provide confirmation of, or commentary on, investigations due to privacy and law enforcement considerations," the statement said. "Also, as a matter of long-standing practice, the Department also does not comment on extradition matters."

The letter noted the "swift concurrent response" between U.S. and Mexican authorities when four Americans were recently kidnapped in Matamoros, Mexico, while calling for an extradition of Jackson to Mexico and urging U.S. authorities to "request concurrent jurisdiction with Mexican law enforcement agencies which would permit U.S. prosecutors to bring the case in the United States as the involved parties are U.S. Citizens."

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

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mexico friend trip killing

Shanquella Robinson, who died in Cabo, Mexico

What Happened To Shanquella Robinson? Fight Video With Friend, Autopsy Suggests Murder In Mexico

It shouldn't be this hard for a grieving family to get answers., share the post, share this link via, or copy link.

Shanquella Robinson, who died in Cabo, Mexico

Shanquella Robinson. | Source: Twitter / Twitter

A Black woman died within the first 24 hours of a group trip to Cabo, Mexico, and now her family is trying to piece together why and how she died. However, they’re getting nothing but conflicting stories from authorities and the group of friends Shanquella Robinson traveled with to celebrate one of their birthdays.

“She told me they had a chef. They were getting ready to eat. They were eating tacos or a salad or something, and I said, ‘OK. I love you. Have a good night, and I will talk to you tomorrow.’ I never talked to my child again. She never made it back home,” Salamondra Robinson, mother of the deceased 25-year-old, told Queen City News .

From the news:

It started with a frantic call from Robinson’s friends.

“They said she wasn’t feeling well. She had alcohol poisoning,” she said. “They couldn’t get a pulse,” she continued. “Each one of the people that was there with her was telling different stories.”

When the family made calls to the FBI and Mexican authorities, they learned of another potential cause of death.

“When the autopsy came back, they said it didn’t have anything to do with the alcohol,” Salamondra said. “[They] said that she had a broken neck and her spine in the back was cracked. She had been beaten.”

Salamondra says the entire group returned from Mexico, leaving her daughter’s body there. Nearly two weeks and $6,000 later, her body is back home, but answers have been hard to come by.

“I know that’s not going to bring my child back, but I want something done about it,” she said.

Queen City News also reportedly obtained Robinson’s death certificate, which confirms that the cause of death was severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation. As for the claim that Robinson had been “badly beaten,” there’s video footage that reportedly shows her being violently attacked by someone who presumably was part of the group trip, while another can be heard off-camera asking, “Why doesn’t she fight back.”

Content warning: the video is graphic and disturbing.

https://twitter.com/Prettybrklyn/status/1592616939108839424

According to the U.S. Sun , an official with the State Department is helping Robinson’s family acquire Mexican authority reports, despite U.S. State Department officials in Mexico maintaining that a police investigation did not show signs of foul play —which seems like a strange thing to say about a woman who died mysteriously of a severe spinal cord injury no one seems to have an explanation for. 

The family has also been recommended to hire a private investigator.

It shouldn’t be this hard for a grieving family to get answers.

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Bernard and Salamondra Robinson are demanding answers in the investigation of their daughter’s death. On Oct. 28, 25-year-old Shanquella Robinson left Charlotte, North Carolina to go on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico . A day later, she was dead.

On Friday (Nov. 11), Salamondra told Charlotte local news station WBTV 3 that, initially, she was informed her daughter suffered from alcohol poisoning during her trip to Mexico. “[I] spoke with her Friday evening. She was having dinner and I never spoke with her again,” the grieving mother said. “On Saturday evening, they called and said she wasn’t feeling well, and they were going to call a doctor. And when they called, the doctor hadn’t arrived yet, but they said she had alcohol poisoning,” she added. Shanquella’s group of friends reportedly left her body in their vacation rental and returned home to the states.

“After they said it was alcohol poisoning, we received the autopsy report on Thursday, and it said that her neck had been broken and she had a back spasm. There was a crack, [her] spinal cord was cracked,” the parents told WBTV. “That took it to a whole ‘nother level because that meant somebody had attacked her ,” they continued. The U.S. Department of State is involved in the investigation of the young woman’s death in Mexico. “We are aware of these reports. Protecting the welfare of U.S. citizens overseas is among our top priorities. Out of respect for the privacy of those involved, we have no further comment at this time,” they shared in a statement.

A clip of the Robinson’s interview circulated on social media yesterday (Nov. 15). Since then, a video surfaced online of what appears to be cellphone footage of Shanquella naked, being brutally beaten by one of her friends in a bedroom of their vacation rental in Mexico. At least two other people were present during the altercation with one heard telling her to “fight back.” According to WBTV, the Robinson’s have been in contact with Charlotte’s FBI branch.

See related posts below.

The suspect charged with Shanquella Robinson's death is believed to be one of the friends she traveled to Mexico with

  • Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American, died while on vacation with her friends in Mexico.
  • Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a suspect believed to be one of Robinson's friends. 
  • Her death has gained attention from celebrities like Tamika Mallory and NBA athlete Kyrie Irving. 

Insider Today

Mexican authorities have charged an American woman with Shanquella Robinson's mysterious death .

Prosecutors requested the suspect, who has not been named, be extradited to Mexico to face charges, the Associated Press reported on Thursday. 

Robinson, a 25-year-old North Carolina woman, died on October 29, while she was on vacation with six friends in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Her friends reportedly blamed alcohol poisoning, but an autopsy attributed the cause of her death to a severe spinal cord or neck injury. A prosecutor said her death is being treated as a potential homicide. 

Daniel de la Rosa, attorney general for Mexico's Baja California Sur, told CNN on Wednesday that the suspect charged with Robinson's death is believed to be one of the friends she traveled with.

Earlier this month, her death gained national attention after a video surfaced online of an attack on a woman identified as Robinson by her father, Bernard Robinson. The video shows one woman beating another in what is believed to be the inside of the luxury villa where they stayed.

The story garnered attention from celebrities like activist Tamika Mallory and NBA athlete Kyrie Irving. Robinson's sister Quilla Long launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover the family's legal fees and funeral expenses. The fundraiser has reached $379,407 of its $380,000 goal. Hundreds of friends and family gathered for Robinson's funeral on November 13. 

The FBI's Charlotte division opened an investigation into Robinson's death earlier this month. 

Watch: Videos show dead bodies and a mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine

mexico friend trip killing

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Watch CBS News

Mexico investigates death of American woman seen being beaten in video that has gone viral

Updated on: November 18, 2022 / 1:48 PM EST / CBS/AP

Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they have opened an investigation into the death of a U.S. woman seen being beaten in a video that has gone viral. Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur said in a statement they are investigating the death of a woman they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in the town of San Jose del Cabo.

A state official who was not authorized to be quoted by name confirmed the victim was Shanquella Robinson. The official confirmed that the group she had been traveling with had since left Mexico.

#BREAKING Mexican authorities confirm they’ve started “La Carpeta de Investigación se inició por el delito de feminicidio” = the killing of a woman. Latest all evening on @WBTV_News #ShanquellaRobinson pic.twitter.com/yvgsvwGEpJ — Brandon Hamilton (@BHAMonTV) November 17, 2022

A video apparently taped at a luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman.

The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying "Can you at least fight back?" The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

capture.jpg

Prosecutors said police found Robinson dead at the villa on Oct. 29.

Shanquella's mother, Salamondra Robinson, told CBS News' Anne-Marie Green and Dana Jacobson that investigators in Mexico were looking into her daughter's death as a murder. 

"I was glad to hear that," she said. 

Salamondra said she was initially told by Shanquella's friends that she had gotten sick with alcohol poisoning. But later on, she learned there was a fight, and an autopsy found she had injuries to her spinal cord and neck.

The autopsy showed that "her death had nothing to do with alcohol," Salamondra said.

Mexican officials said they could not confirm the cause of death because it was part of an ongoing investigation.

When Salamondra saw the video, she said she knew it was her daughter. It raised questions about why nobody intervened in the purported beating, or why people she was traveling with would have beaten her.

"She was not fighting nobody back. She didn't even have a chance," Salamondra said. "No one tried to stop it."

The group Shanquella was traveling with were people she went to college with, Salamondra said.

"One of the guys supposedly was her best friend," she said. "And he had went on family trips with us, you know? And he had been to the family house."

Salamondra said she hadn't seen him since she got the autopsy results.

The mother hopes she can get more answers about what happened to her daughter, whom she described as having "a heart of gold."

"She loved everybody. She didn't mistreat nobody. Never. No one could possibly ever say anything bad about her because she was a good person," she said.

In another case in a different part of Baja California Sur, prosecutors said they had arrested three men and one woman in the Oct. 25 disappearance of another American, identified as Rodney Davis, 73.

Davis was last seen near El Juncalito beach in the township of Loreto, well to the north of San Jose del Cabo.

The three suspects face kidnapping charges. Davis's body was found two days later on a nearby highway.

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What We Know About the Death of Shanquella Robinson

mexico friend trip killing

Last October, Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, arrived in the town of San José del Cabo, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, with six friends. A day later, she was found dead in the rental property where they were staying. Although Robinson’s friends told her mother that she’d died of alcohol poisoning, her death certificate recorded that the cause was a spinal cord and neck injury. Calls for authorities to investigate Robinson’s death grew after a video showing one of her friends physically assaulting her went viral.

Robinson’s family and their attorney claimed that Mexican authorities concluded their investigation and went through proper channels for extradition, but that U.S. authorities made no arrests. The family has said they have been left in the dark and feel like efforts to bring their daughter’s killer to justice have stalled. Now, following a federal investigation into the case, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced no federal charges will be filed in connection to Robinson’s death, claiming in a news release that “available evidence does not support prosecution.”

Here is everything we know about the case so far.

Robinson last spoke with her mother a day before her death.

Robinson’s mother told CNN that she’d talked to her daughter on the morning of October 28. “When I spoke with her, she seemed to be pretty happy. She was laughing,” she said. “She seemed very happy on that trip … I said, ‘Okay, enjoy yourself. Love you. I will talk to you tomorrow.’ And I never spoke with her again.”

Robinson graduated from West Charlotte High School and attended Winston-Salem State University, where she met some of the friends who were on the trip with her. Her father told   the New York Times that she ran a business braiding children’s hair.

After Robinson was found dead in the living room of the vacation rental where she and her friends were staying, her friends returned home. Her father told the Times that he did not understand why they were allowed to leave Mexico.

A video shows Robinson being beaten by one of her friends.

A video that made the rounds online following her death shows someone physically beating Robinson. The person can be seen throwing her to the ground and kicking and punching her all over her body and head. A man standing nearby can be heard saying, “Quella, can you at least fight back?” Robinson’s father confirmed to the Times that it was his daughter being beaten in the video, saying, “She’s not a fighter. She didn’t believe in drama.” It is not known when the video was taken.

Robinson’s death certificate raised more suspicion about the circumstances of her death.

Robinson’s friends told her mother that she had died of alcohol poisoning, but her death certificate suggested otherwise. Per the Times, it shows that Robinson was found unconscious in the living room in San José del Cabo and that she’d died about 15 minutes after she was injured. The certificate had no mention of alcohol poisoning.

According to a police report, Robinson’s friends called a doctor but didn’t want her to be taken to a hospital for treatment.

According to the Charlotte Observer , a police report shows that a doctor saw Robinson after someone called for medical help at the vacation home on the afternoon of October 29, 2022. The doctor found Robinson with stable vital signs, but she was dehydrated and unable to communicate. The doctor was told that Robinson had “drunk a lot of alcohol.”

According to the police report, while the doctor wanted to take Robinson to the hospital, her friends insisted that she be treated at the vacation home. The doctor tried to give her an intravenous line before she began to have a seizure. At that point, one of Robinson’s friends called for an ambulance, per the Observer .

At 4:49 p.m., when the doctor detected no pulse, she and one of Robinson’s friends began giving her CPR. Paramedics administered more rounds of CPR and adrenaline and discharges from a defibrillator. Robinson was pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m.

An arrest warrant has been issued for one of Robinson’s friends.

Back in November, Daniel de la Rosa, the attorney general for Baja California Sur, told reporters that Robinson’s death resulted from “direct aggression” and that an arrest warrant for the crime of femicide — the killing of a woman because of her gender — had been issued. De la Rosa believed that a friend of Robinson’s is responsible for her death.

At the time, neither Mexican nor U.S. authorities identified the suspect, but they did confirm she is a U.S. citizen. According to CBS , the FBI opened a probe into the circumstances surrounding Robinson’s death in November. Mexican prosecutors said that they were consulting with federal government officials in both countries about an extradition request. “We are already carrying out all the relevant procedures, both the Interpol file and the extradition request,” de la Rosa said.

Robinson’s family have said U.S. authorities failed them.

In early March, Robinson’s family traveled to Washington, D.C., along with civil-rights attorney Ben Crump and a group of activists. “No one has been arrested,” Sallamondra Robinson, Shanquella’s mother, said in a news conference held in D.C. “The people who knew what happened to my daughter are living their lives. They have returned to work and my family is left to wait and wait to beg for answers.”

Quilla Long, Robinson’s sister, said that the process of trying to get justice for her sister has been frustrating and disheartening. “I feel like our government has failed us,” she said.

Sue-Ann Robinson, an attorney who works with Crump’s firm (and is not related to the Robinson family), said the Mexican government concluded its investigation and sent all the information it had to the U.S. government, but the U.S. government had not done anything. “The ball is clearly in the United States’ court,” Sue-Ann Robinson said.

Sue-Ann Robinson and Crump urged the Biden administration, the State Department, and the Department of Justice to prioritize bringing Shanquella Robinson’s alleged killers to justice and provide the family with updates about the investigation. “I plan on talking to the highest levels of our government to say Shanquella Robinson is not irrelevant and you all need to give her the same dignity and respect as any citizen in the United States would merit,” Crump said.

Federal prosecutors will not file charges in Robinson’s death.

Almost six months after Robinson’s death, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed it won’t file charges in the case after a “detailed and thorough” investigation of available evidence, including Robinson’s autopsy. The Department added that it had met with Robinson’s family about its findings and that it is “prepared to review and examine new information” if any emerges.

“We’re disappointed but not deterred,” Sue-Ann Robinson said in a press conference following the news release, sharing that the findings left the family with “more questions than answers.” Per People , Robinson claimed that the autopsy performed in the U.S. did not determine a cause of death or show a spinal-cord injury, as the Mexican autopsy did. “[Shanquella’s] attack was captured on video and now we are being told there won’t be an arrest,” Robinson said. “It reminded me of George Floyd. When we were told we weren’t seeing what we were seeing.”

This post has been updated.

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Everything we know about the kidnapping of 4 Americans in Mexico

Two victims were found dead on March 7 and two were rescued alive.

Four Americans were kidnapped shortly after crossing into Mexico earlier this month. Two survived the violent ordeal, while two members of the group died.

Here's everything we know:

The kidnapping

The four Americans -- Eric James Williams, Zindell Brown and cousins Latavia "Tay" McGee and Shaeed Woodard -- drove the morning of March 3 into Matamoros, Mexico, which is in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas just south of Brownsville, Texas.

"Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the vehicle," and then put the four Americans in another car and fled, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said.

mexico friend trip killing

MORE: 4 US citizens kidnapped in Mexico identified

Irving Barrios, the attorney general of Tamaulipas, said the Americans were not directly targeted and it appears "it was a misunderstanding."

Mexican investigators think the kidnappers may have wrongly believed the Americans were rival human traffickers, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

mexico friend trip killing

For the first time, the Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas also said on March 9 that a Mexican woman died in the incident. Arely Pablo, 33, died after being hit by a stray bullet during the kidnapping.

Williams and McGee survived the kidnapping. They were found the morning of March 7 in a wooden house in the Lagunona area, outside of Matamoros, Mexican officials said.

One of the deceased was also found inside the house, and the second was found outside the house, a source close to the investigation told ABC News.

PHOTO: A still grab from video of the scene where four Americans who were kidnapped were found by Mexican authorities on March 7, 2023. They were found in a wooden shed and camper in the Lagunona area right outside of the town of Matamoros, Mexico.

The two Americans found dead had blankets or sheets on top of them, a source close to the investigation told ABC News. One of the dead was wearing a surgical robe when he was found, the source said.

The Mexicans tried to seek medical attention for the Americans who were injured in the kidnapping, the Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas said in a statement on March 9. They were taken in an ambulance to a clinic, according to officials.

mexico friend trip killing

During the days they were held, the Americans were transferred to various places, including a clinic, in order to create confusion and avoid rescue efforts, said the governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal.

The survivors and the victims

mexico friend trip killing

McGee is a mother of five who traveled from South Carolina to Mexico for a cosmetic medical procedure, according to her family.

Her mother, Barbara Burgess, told ABC News she spoke to her daughter on Tuesday. She said McGee had no major injuries.

Michele Williams, wife of survivor Eric Williams, said the FBI told her that her husband had been shot twice in one leg and once in the other.

He has undergone surgery in a Texas hospital, she said.

Brown, who was among the two killed, was on the trip to Mexico to support his friend, McGee, for her surgery, according to Brown's sister, Zalayna Brown Grant.

"Zindell was a loving son, brother, uncle and friend," Grant wrote on a GoFundMe page. "Our family waited for any news about my brother's return, but he won't be coming home alive."

Woodard, who was also killed, was McGee's cousin, according to McGee's mother.

The bodies of the two Americans killed were repatriated to the U.S. on March 9.

A fifth person who was traveling with the group, Cheryl Orange, did not cross the border into Mexico and remained in Brownsville, according to a police report from the Brownsville Police Department.

Orange did not cross into Mexico because "she did not have her ID with her" and contacted police on March 4, the day after the kidnapping, when she could not get in touch with them, the police report said.

The investigation

Five alleged members of a powerful Mexican cartel were charged with aggravated kidnapping and murder on March 10 in connection to the kidnapping.

The Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas announced the charges a day after the Gulf Cartel allegedly took responsibility for the kidnapping. The five men were found tied up near a pickup truck and a handwritten note was found placed on the windshield of the truck, whose author or authors say they belong to the Gulf Cartel, the dominant organized crime group in this part of Mexico. Neither ABC News nor U.S. officials have been able to independently verify the authenticity of the note.

The alleged cartel members have been indicted in connection with the kidnapping, the Tamaulipas attorney general announced Monday.

mexico friend trip killing

A 24-year-old suspect arrested in connection with the incident was formally indicted on an aggravated kidnapping charge, the Attorney General's Office of Tamaulipas said on March 10. The man was allegedly acting as a lookout when authorities finally located the four missing Americans.

The office also announced a homicide charge in the killing of Pablo, the bystander.

The FBI said it's working with "federal and international partners to determine the facts of what happened and to hold those responsible for this horrific and violent attack accountable for their crimes."

Following the recovery of the victims, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, "Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable, no matter where, under what circumstances they occur. We're going to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case."

President Joe Biden has "been kept updated" on the situation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on March 7.

The FBI urges anyone with information to call its San Antonio office at 210-225-6741 or submit information on its website .

ABC News' Miles Cohen, Ellie Kaufman, Matt Rivers, Anne Laurent, Shannon Crawford, Dan Carranza and Luke Barr contributed to this report.

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New video shows us tourist shanquella robinson with pals before mysterious death at mexico resort.

New video has emerged of a North Carolina woman shortly before her mysterious death at a Mexican resort — as she playfully jokes with friends.

Shanquella Robinson, 25, sounds upbeat in the clip, which she reportedly shot at the luxury Fundadores Beach Club in San José del Cabo, according to RadarOnline .

“It don’t take that long to get naked. Where y’all at?” Robinson yells lightheartedly as she walks into a room at CaboVillas.com’s Villa Linda 32 where the group discusses what bathing outfits to wear.

The short clip was posted on The Neighborhood Talk account on Instagram , where users shared their thoughts about the woman’s demise.

“WOWWWWW this is sad. You can tell they had a problem with her. And probably didn’t say anything cuz she walked in recording,” one person wrote.

“This story breaks my heart, man. Imagine going on vacation just trying to enjoy your life and walking right into a death sentence. I hope they all get life… In Mexico,” another said.

“Their energy was so cold when she went into the room. She had no idea what was coming,” a third user wrote.

Shanquella Robinson

Robinson, who traveled to the resort with a group of friends on Oct. 28, was found dead the following day.

At first, her friends said she died from alcohol poisoning, but a homicide probe was launched after an autopsy found she suffered “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” an instability of the first two neck vertebrae.

A horrifying video also went viral showing her being beaten in a hotel room.

Vide of Shanquella being beaten

On Saturday, Shanquella’s father, Bernard Robinson,  told  TMZ that he believed the attack was a setup , because his daughter was not one to get involved in fights.

“They attacked her, man. This ain’t like some … my daughter was asleep, man. For all them to be in that room and then, you know, they come in there like no she woke up or whatever, the way it seems like they attacked her, man,” the grief-stricken dad told the outlet.

“And she naked, man. You know, for a father … to see that video, man, you know, ’cause my daughter’s not a fighter, man, she’s not a fighter, not at all,” he added.

The State Attorney General’s Office of Baja California Sur last week said that “an investigation was initiated for femicide,” a hate crime in which women are killed due to their gender.

Shanquella Robinson

On Saturday, funeral services were held for Shanquella at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, WBTV reported .

“We came to ensure there is enough people putting pressure on the entire system to do what is necessary to get justice for this woman,” said activist Tamika Mallory.

“Losing a loved one in the heinous way in which has happened to Shanquella, there will probably never be peace for them,” she said.

“But there cannot just be an open situation. It has to be closed with truth and it has to be that there is accountability for those that are responsible for her death,” Mallory added.

The FBI told WBTV on Friday that it has “opened an investigation in the death of Charlotte resident Shanquella Robinson in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on or about October 29, 2022.

Shanquella Robinson

“Due to the ongoing investigation, we have no further comment,” the agency added.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving — who has apologized for promoting an anti-Semitic movie — donated $65,000 to help pay for expenses and legal fees for Shanquella’s family, WSOC-TV reported .

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2 Americans are dead and 2 are back in the U.S. after a violent kidnapping in Mexico, officials say

Two of the  four Americans who were shot at by gunmen and kidnapped  shortly after they crossed the border into northern Mexico for a medical procedure last week are dead, and the two survivors are back on U.S. soil, Mexican and U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Tamaulipas state Gov. Américo Villarreal said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that a woman and a man had survived the kidnapping. The woman, whom Villarreal identified only as LaTavia, was unharmed. The man, whose first name is Eric, had a gunshot wound to the leg, Villarreal said.

Both were taken to a clinic for medical treatment and returned to the U.S. by an international bridge between Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas, before noon Tuesday, he said.

A 24-year-old man from Tamaulipas, identified only as Jose N, "was found guarding the victims" and arrested, Villarreal said. The charges against the man were unclear.

Villarreal announced the casualties by phone at a news conference Tuesday morning.

At a State Department briefing Tuesday, spokesperson Ned Price confirmed the survivors had returned to the U.S., adding, "We are in the process of working to repatriate the remains of the two Americans who were killed in this incident." He said the U.S. is providing assistance to the victims and their families. 

What we know about the discovery of the victims

The Americans were found Tuesday morning in a wooden house close to an area called La Lagunona in Matamoros, Villarreal said Tuesday.  

Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica tweeted that the Americans were found by “joint search actions.”

Villarreal said the Americans had been transported to various places, including a clinic, “to create confusion and to interrupt the rescue work.”

An investigation to catch other suspects continues, he said. 

Earlier Tuesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered his sympathies to the victims.

“We are very sorry that this happened in our country, and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends and the United States government, and we will continue doing our work to guarantee peace and tranquility," he said.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland offered his condolences and said the Justice Department is “working closely” with the State Department. 

A trip for medical care gone wrong

The FBI had been offering a $50,000 reward for the safe return of the U.S. citizens, who were kidnapped Friday after having driven into Matamoros, just south of Brownsville.

Dramatic video showing a gunman dragging people into a white pickup captured the kidnapping as it unfolded, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter confirmed.

LaTavia Washington McGee.

One of the victims was identified as LaTavia Washington McGee by her cousin, Aliyah McCleod, who is acting as a family spokesperson.

On Tuesday, LaTavia's mother, Barbara Burgess, confirmed her daughter is alive and said she has spoken with her. 

McCleod also identified another member of the group as Shaeed Woodard.

Eric Williams' wife said he was kidnapped and shot in the leg before he returned to the U.S. on Tuesday.

Williams' Michelle Williams said she was thankful that her husband and McGee were coming home but added that she was "heartbroken that the other two families can't say the same."

She described the group as childhood friends.

Eric Williams.

McCleod said the group is from South Carolina and had been traveling in a rental vehicle with North Carolina license plates when it entered Matamoros. The FBI confirmed the group was traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina plates.

McCleod said the group had traveled to Mexico for a "medical procedure."

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said a woman in the group had been seeking a cosmetic medical procedure. The official said cartel gunmen targeted the group in a case of mistaken identity.

Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolina, told The Associated Press that her younger brother, Zindell, was among the four victims. She said she had been in contact with the FBI and local officials after she learned her sibling had been kidnapped.

A member of the Mexican security forces stands near a white minivan with North Carolina plates and several bullet holes, at the crime scene where gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas, on March 3, 2023.

“This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,” she told the news agency. “To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.”

Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, had been on the trip to accompany a friend who was traveling to Mexico for a procedure.

She also said her brother had some reservations about their making the trip because of the potential dangers in Mexico.

“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,’” Brown told the AP.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing Monday in Washington that the Biden administration was "closely following the assault and kidnapping of four U.S. citizens."

"These sorts of attacks are unacceptable," Jean-Pierre said.

"We will continue to coordinate with Mexico and push them to bring those responsible to justice," she said.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the four Americans were going to buy medicine and were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups after they had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday.

Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said in a statement Monday that an “innocent Mexican citizen was tragically killed” in the kidnapping.

López Obrador said at a news conference that the Americans were in Mexico to buy medicine, a common practice for people seeking cheaper medications  across the southern border .

A “ Do Not Travel ” for Tamaulipas state the State Department issued because of “crime and kidnapping" says organized crime activity, including gunbattles, armed robberies and kidnappings, are common along the border and in Ciudad Victoria.

“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the warning says.

mexico friend trip killing

Chantal Da Silva reports on world news for NBC News Digital and is based in London.

mexico friend trip killing

Gabe Gutierrez is a senior White House correspondent for NBC News.

mexico friend trip killing

Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington.

Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Mystery surrounds North Carolina woman's death while on vacation in Mexico

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A distraught family is seeking answers in the mysterious death of a North Carolina woman who died while on vacation in Mexico.

Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, was found dead in her hotel room Oct. 29 while vacationing with friends in Cabo San Lucas.

Her father said the family was told she died of alcohol poisoning, but an autopsy performed on her body found that she died because of injuries to her neck and spinal cord.

The autopsy made no mention of alcohol, only stating that she was found unconscious in the living room and died within 15 minutes of her injuries.

"I just want some truth because this doesn't even add up right," Bernard Robinson said. "It's like a nightmare. Man, I can't even sleep. I am just frustrated; my heart is just aching as a father."

"She was a good child and had a great heart," Sallamondra Robinson, Shanquella's mother, told ABC affiliate WSOC . "And she did not deserve to be treated like that."

The State Department would only confirm that a U.S. citizen had died in Mexico, but the U.S. Embassy in Mexico said, "We are aware of Shanquella Robinson's death and are providing consular services to her family."

The state attorney general's office in Baja California Sur told WSOC that the case remains open and nothing has been ruled out in Robinson's death.

Efforts by WSOC to reach her friends who accompanied her on the Mexico trip have been unsuccessful.

The FBI Charlotte field office has been in contact with Robinson's family but is not releasing any other details.

No one has been charged with any crime in connection with the case.

"I'm not giving up. I am not giving up," Bernard Robinson said. "I am very confident that I am going to have peace of mind."

A funeral for Shanquella Robinson is scheduled for Saturday in Charlotte.

Related Topics

  • HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION
  • MURDER MYSTERY
  • MYSTERIOUS DEATH
  • WOMAN KILLED
  • U.S. & WORLD
  • NORTH CAROLINA NEWS
  • DEATH INVESTIGATION

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COMMENTS

  1. U.S. Won't File Charges in Death of American Woman in Mexico

    Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., had traveled last fall to Mexico with six friends. A widely circulated video appears to show her being beaten by another woman. People gathered for a ...

  2. Bodies found in Mexico confirmed as those of missing American and ...

    The three friends were on a surfing and camping trip near the town of Ensenada, about 60 miles south of the border city of Tijuana, when they went missing on April 29.

  3. Mexico issues arrest warrant for US citizen accused of killing her

    An arrest warrant has been issued in Mexico for a woman suspected of fatally assaulting a friend from North Carolina while on vacation last month in San Jose del Cabo, a prosecutor says.

  4. Mexico investigates American woman's death as femicide, FBI opens probe

    Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, went to San Jose del Cabo, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, with six friends on Oct. 28.

  5. Group of 4 Americans in deadly Mexico trip were childhood friends

    Eric Williams and LaTavia Washington McGee survived the trip to Mexico that killed two other people, according to officials and family members. The group of four Americans — all childhood ...

  6. There will be no federal charges in Shanquella Robinson's death, the

    There will be no federal charges in Shanquella Robinson's death, the DOJ says Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., was killed last October while vacationing in Mexico with friends. National

  7. US citizen accused of killing North Carolina woman while ...

    Related article Mexico issues arrest warrant for US citizen accused of killing her friend while on vacation in San Jose del Cabo Robinson's mother said she has not been told who the suspect is.

  8. FBI Investigates Death of American Woman in Mexico

    Mexican Prosecutors Seek to Extradite Suspect in Death of American Woman. Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., had traveled last month to Mexico with six friends, according to her father ...

  9. Shanquella Robinson Case: Here's What to Know So Far

    Here's What We Know. M exican prosecutors have filed charges against a suspect in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American woman who died on Oct. 29 while on vacation with six of ...

  10. Family of NC woman killed on Mexico vacation reveals friend is a

    Attorneys for the family of a North Carolina killed on vacation in Mexico revealed the name of a friend suspected in the mysterious death - and are calling on President Biden to have her ...

  11. Shanquella Robinson Video Shows Fight Before Death In Mexico

    Video Shows White Jail Cops Brutally Beating Black Inmate As Lawyers Demand Charges. Twenty-five-year-old Shanquella Robinson died within the first 24 hours of a group trip to Cabo, Mexico ...

  12. Shanquella Robinson killed by friends on vacation in Mexico

    On Oct. 28, 25-year-old Shanquella Robinson left Charlotte, North Carolina to go on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico. A day later, she was dead. A day later, she was dead. On Friday (Nov. 11), Salamondra told Charlotte local news station WBTV 3 that, initially, she was informed her daughter suffered from alcohol poisoning during her trip to ...

  13. Shanquella Robinson Murder Suspect Charged in Mexico

    Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old American, died while on vacation with her friends in Mexico. Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against a suspect believed to be one of Robinson's friends ...

  14. Shanquella Robinson death: Mexico investigates death of U.S. woman seen

    Family seeks answers after North Carolina woman is found dead in Mexico 07:50. Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they have opened an investigation into the death of a U.S. woman seen being beaten ...

  15. Shanquella Robinson's death in Mexico probed as killing after cops

    Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found dead in Mexico, where she was visiting with friends to celebrate a birthday. Instagram / @shanaquella_robinso 6

  16. What We Know About the Death of Shanquella Robinson

    By Tariro Mzezewa, the Cut's morning blogger. Last October, Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old woman from Charlotte, North Carolina, arrived in the town of San José del Cabo, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, with six friends. A day later, she was found dead in the rental property where they were staying.

  17. Everything we know about the kidnapping of 4 Americans in Mexico

    The kidnapping. The four Americans -- Eric James Williams, Zindell Brown and cousins Latavia "Tay" McGee and Shaeed Woodard -- drove the morning of March 3 into Matamoros, Mexico, which is in the ...

  18. New video shows US tourist Shanquella Robinson with pals before

    The FBI told WBTV on Friday that it has "opened an investigation in the death of Charlotte resident Shanquella Robinson in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on or about October 29, 2022. Her friends told ...

  19. Gulf cartel apologizes after Americans are kidnapped and killed in Mexico

    4 Americans in deadly Mexico trip were childhood friends; Mexico kidnapping was 'difficult to prevent' despite known dangers in border regions; 2 Americans are dead and 2 are back in the U.S ...

  20. 2 Americans kidnapped in Mexico are dead and 2 others are alive

    2 Americans are dead and 2 are back in the U.S. after a violent kidnapping in Mexico, officials say. "We are in the process of working to repatriate the remains of the two Americans who were ...

  21. March 8, 2023 Survivors of deadly Mexico kidnapping back in US

    1:00 p.m. PDT, March 8, 2023. Medical tourism to Mexico is on the rise. Here are some risks and safety recommendations. From CNN's Jacqueline Howard and Janelle Chavez. One of the four Americans ...

  22. Shanquella Robinson beaten to death while on vacation with friends in

    On Oct. 28, 25-year-old Shanquella Robinson left Charlotte, North Carolina to go on a trip with friends to Cabo, Mexico. A day later, she was dead. On Friday (Nov. 11), Salamondra told Charlotte ...

  23. Mystery surrounds North Carolina woman's death while on vacation in Mexico

    Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, was found dead in her hotel room Oct. 29 while vacationing with friends in Mexico. Her family seeks answers as conflicting details emerge.