Federal prosecutors told the family of Shanquella Robinson on Wednesday that the evidence they have isn’t enough for prosecution in Robinson’s death last year in Mexico, the US Attorneys’ Offices for the Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina said.
Robinson, a 25-year-old former student at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, died in October while staying in a luxury rental property in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur.
“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 US Attorneys’Offices said in a release Wednesday.
Family members are “very deeply disappointed” in the decision, but are “not deterred” and plan to continue to seek justice for Robinson, their attorney, Sue-Ann Robinson, said at a news conference.
“Black and brown people always have to carve their own path to justice,” attorney Robinson said. Shanquella Robinson was a Black American from North Carolina.
A copy of Shanquella Robinson’s death certificate, listed the cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” which is instability or excessive movement in the uppermost neck vertebrae.
The document stated she was found unconscious in the living room of the rental residence on October 29.
The death certificate classified Shanquella Robinson’s death as “accidental or violent,” noting that the approximate time between injury and death was 15 minutes.
Video posted online appeared to show a physical altercation inside a room between Shanquella Robinson and another person. It’s not clear when the video was taken or if the video depicted the moment she suffered the fatal injury.
At the time, Bernard Robinson confirmed to CNN it is his daughter seen in the video being thrown to the floor and beaten on the head.
It’s unclear what led to the altercation or how many people were in the room at the time. It’s also unclear if anyone tried to intervene.
The FBI conducted “a detailed and thorough investigation of the evidence” and worked with the Robinson family to conduct an autopsy in the United States by the Medical Examiner’s Office in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, the release said.
