What should have been a fun trip to San José del Cabo in Mexico culminated into horror and death for the beautiful Shanquella Robinson. Her family mourning their loss amid the lies and appearance of a coverup surrounding events leading up to 25-year-old Shanquella’s death still seek answers:
After Shanquella Robinson arrived in Mexico on October 28 to vacation with six people she had reportedly known since college; Shanquella’s mother said her daughter called to say she was heading out to eat tacos. It was the last time the 25-year-old hairdresser from Charlotte, NC would ever speak to her parents.
A day later, Robinson was dead. Videos began circulating online showing her naked and being beaten by Daejhanae Jackson, a woman in the group Shanquella was vacationing with. Others present in the villa’s room recorded the brutal assault while seemingly desensitized to someone being assaulted. One image captured on the video appeared to show a member of the group FaceTiming someone. Gotta Take5 is not linking to the videos, because of their violent/graphic nature. After an official autopsy report revealed that Shanquella suffered a broken neck and a severe spinal-cord injury — Mexican authorities are now seeking the arrest of an unarmed American woman who was among the vacationers. Now, Robinson’s devastated family wants two things: answers and accountability. Even though months have passed, Robinson’s mother Salamondra Robinson told The Post in a November 30th interview that she didn’t know anything about how her daughter died.
Shanquella’s father, Bernard Robinson told the Post that he just wants justice for his daughter. The family’s nightmare began on Oct. 29, a day after Salamondra last spoke to her daughter.“Her friends called me,” she said. “They said Shanquella has alcohol poisoning and that a doctor was on the way to the villa.” Shanquella and the traveling party were staying at Villa Linda 32 in Puerto Los Cabos. The listing is no longer available on CaboVillas.com. Now, when Salamondra thinks about that moment, she wonders how the people with Shanquella, none of whom were a doctor or medical professional diagnosed her with “alcohol poisoning.” At the time of the call, Salamondra said, she repeatedly told Shanquella’s travel mates, all of whom Shanquella had met at Winston-Salem State University, to take her to a doctor, but they told her the villa’s manager was coming over with a medic.“I’m not sure if anyone ever arrived, because I was never allowed to talk to them,” Salamondra said. “I asked them to let me speak to the doctor when they arrived, but they told me that the doctor is busy with Shanquella.”
A “Justice for Shanquella” event will take place Saturday afternoon (December 10th) in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Little Rock AME Zion Church.
Then the group went silent. When they called Salamondra back, it was to tell her that her daughter had died. Before her death, Shanquella ran two businesses: Exquisite Babies where she braided children’s hair, and the Exquisite Boutique, which sold clothes. She had a kind heart. She loved life and loved people,” her mother said. Tributes from friends flooded Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Social media helped to amplify Shanquella’s story, with thousands of people using the hashtags #JusticeForShanquellaRobinon #JusticeForShanquella #SayHerName and #JusticeForQuella to raise awareness of the case. An online Change.org petition—‘ “JUSTICE FOR SHANQUELLA ROBINSON! WE NEED ANSWERS!” was created by YouTube Content Creator #DaniRobertson. The petition shared across social media pinpoints the heinous acts committed against Shanquella Robinson. The petition also details accounts of what has been reported about Shanquella’s death along with other pertinent information about the investigation. The GoFundme account for ‘Justice for Quella’ organized by Quilla Long Shanquella’s sister has received close to $400,900 in donations and is active for those who are interested in donating to the legal defense.
The family of Shanquella Robinson is thankful for the support they are receiving to expose those responsible for Shanquella’s death. Shanquella’s mother has credited Black social media’s voice as being critical in pursuing justice for helping to gain exposure to her daughter’s death! Bernard Robinson said all he could do was cry when he received the news of Shanquella’s death. “I’ve been a wreck ever since,” he said. Bernard said he had suspicions from the beginning. “I wasn’t settled with the information they were providing us.” He said Shanquella was “very respectful” and not one to get into a fight. “My girl didn’t like drama,” he said. The Monday after Shanquella died, Bernard called the management of Villa Linda in San José del Cabo, where police found her body, according to her autopsy report. It took days for him to find someone who spoke English and who could help him transport Shanquella’s body back home. Bernard eventually connected with a woman from the villa’s management team. “She is an angel. She’s the one who first told us the truth,” he said. “She said: ‘Mr. Robinson, your daughter didn’t die of alcohol poisoning. She died of a broken neck.’” Bernard was scouting a gravesite for Shanquella when he was first made aware of the viral video’s existence. “It hurt me to the heart,” Bernard said, describing the pain of watching his daughter’s alleged final moments.
Since their return to the United States, some of those who accompanied Shanquella to Mexico have visited the Robinson family home. “These people looked me in the face and told me there was no fight in Cabo,” Salamondra Robinson said. They maintained that Shanquella died of alcohol poisoning, she said. When the autopsy report from Nov. 4 was released to the family, some of the people from the group were again at Salamondra’s home. She said she turned to them and asked, “What did you all do to my child?” A male visitor, one of three Shanquella vacationed with, broke into a sweat and left immediately, she said. Since then, the group has not returned. “They’re on the run,” Salamondra said. Shanquella’s parents don’t have any details of the events that led to her death; the initial police report contains only what the police were told by the six people accompanying Shanquella, and those people have avoided speaking to reporters. On Nov. 24, the attorney general’s office of Baja California Sur in Mexico said early investigations of Shanquella’s death indicate the incident was “a direct attack, not an accident.” Deputy Attorney General Antonio López Rodríguez said police believe Robinson’s death was the result of one of her travel companions injuring her during the vacation. Mexican officials confirmed there is an arrest warrant for an American woman allegedly involved in the case but did not name her in a Facebook post.
Other members of the group have not been publicly named by officials.López Rodríguez said that as soon as the judge granted the warrant, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Mexico and the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs will start the extradition process against the suspect. The State Department says it is supporting and monitoring the investigation of Shanquella’s death and added that when a U.S. citizen dies in a foreign country, local authorities are responsible for determining the cause of death. “There’s a whole lot of unanswered questions in my mind about her death,” Bernard Robinson, who has hired a lawyer in his quest for the truth, said through tears. “I just want justice for my daughter. She was my only child.”
By Maham Javaid
Maham Javaid is a general assignment reporter who joined The Washington Post in 2022. She was previously reporting for the Live desk at the New York Times. Twitter
Jennifer Hassan is a London-based breaking-news reporter for the Foreign desk at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post as a social media editor in 2016, Jennifer was global
By LeNora Millen
LeNora Millen is an author, journalist nd political editor who has written for Exposure Magazine, The Newzreel and Gotta Take Five.
Photos courtesy of the Robinson family