A video of a brawl surrounding the mysterious death of a Black woman has led to a movement to uncover the truth about what happened to Shanquella Robinson in Mexico.
Salamondra Robinson took to the public for answers after she received conflicting reports about what led to her daughter’s death at a villa more than 2,500 miles in Cabo, Mexico.
Robinson’s parents have contacted the FBI and Mexican authorities and paid to bring her body back to the U.S.
Mexican authorities said they don’t suspect foul play, but the 25-year-old woman’s family believes she was murdered.
“I probably won’t be at ease until someone’s arrested,” Salamondra Robinson told Queen City News.
Shanquella Robinson left Charlotte, North Carolina, for Mexico on Friday, Oct. 28, to celebrate one of her friends’ birthdays for the weekend. Her family says she was dead within 24 hours.
What Happened to Shanquella Robinson in Mexico?
Shortly after arriving in Cabo on Friday, Shanquella called her mother and told her she is enjoying a meal prepared by a private chef in Villa Linda 32.
Salamondra receives a frantic call from Robinson’s friends saying that she is unconscious and had alcohol poisoning. “Each one of the people that was there with her was telling different stories,” the mother said.
Salamondra said, “they didn’t call us until the very last minute.” Records obtained by WJZY said there were seven guests staying in the villa.
Shanquella’s friends returned to the U.S. and left her body in Mexico. Her family spent $6,000 to ship her remains back to Charlotte.
U.S. Department of State officials in Mexico are not commenting on the allegations of foul play.
“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,” U.S. Department of State officials told WBTV in a statement.
Shanquella’s remains arrived in Charlotte on Nov. 10, and her family also received a death certificate. The woman’s cause of death is listed as severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation, which means the dislocation of the spine in the neck.
There is no mention of alcohol poisoning.
The certificate says Shanquella was “found unconscious in her living room.” Her mother said she was told her body was discovered by “a maid.”
However, a representative of cabovillas.com told reporters the group in the villa called the concierge, who called a doctor for help on Saturday afternoon. The doctor gave Shanquella CPR.
She was pronounced dead at 3 p.m., about 15 minutes after her spinal injury.
WJZY reports that officials typed “Yes” in a death certification section asking “was it accidental or violent?” However, it is unclear which option they meant to select.
A video of a naked Shanquella surfaced online on Tuesday. At least two people stood by and recorded on their cellphones as another punched Shanquella more than two dozen times in the face, neck and back.
“At least fight back, something,” a man in the background says.
The woman kicks her in the head at least once and tosses her on the ground, the video shows.
“Get up, Bro. Get up,” the woman says as Shanquella sits on the floor holding down her head. “Come talk that s——”t.”
Celebrities React to the Violent Video
The video has spurred the hashtags #ShanquellaRobinson, and #JusticeForQuella. Many questioned what happened after the cellphone footage cuts off and have echoed Robinson’s parents’ suspicions of foul play.
Reality TV stars Masika Kalysha, actress Jessie Woo, and singer K. Michelle have voiced their concerns over the brutal altercation.
“The #shanquellarobinson video is wild on so many levels. You clearly hear a grown ass man (her “friend”) recording her being beat up while naked & making fun of Shanquella for being too intoxicated to fight back,” Jessie Woo wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
“Then to say she died of alcohol poisoning and leave her body and come back like nothing happened??? Like are you that dumb? Did u not think that there was going to be an autopsy? Smfh praying for the family and actual friends of #shanquellarobins”n,” Kalysha wrote Tuesday.
“For them to beat that girl like that and tell her to fight is just disgusting. Just broke my heart. This is why I put the phone down for days at a time. Tears. #shanquellarobinson,” wrote K. Michelle.
Who is Shanquella Robinson?
Robinson attended West Charlotte High School and studied at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, according to her Facebook page. It is unclear if she graduated from WSSU. Her death certificate shows she only received a high school education.
The 25-year-old amassed nearly 23,000 friends on her personal Instagram page, which features several video stories of her traveling to Miami, Las Vegas, Tennessee and Jamaica with friends.
Shanquella also managed a hair braiding page, where she specializes in children’s cornrows, and she ran an online women’s clothing boutique.
“She had a heart of gold. She loved everybody, and pretty much everybody loved her,” Salamondra Robinson said.
