For nearly four years, one of the central mysteries has been what happened to Shanquella Robinson inside a Cabo villa before, during, and after a viral beating.
Now her mother isn’t merely asking publicly anymore; she’s asking a court to force someone she alleges participated in the attack to answer those questions under oath.
Robinson, who was 25 at the time, went to Mexico on October 28, 2022, with a group of six friends.
The day after she arrived, she was found unresponsive in her luxury villa. The group called a local doctor at 2:13 p.m., telling her Robinson had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and was severely dehydrated. The doctor got to the villa at 3:15 p.m.
According to the doctor, Robinson was unable to talk, inebriated, and had a blow to her right forehead along with a right eye hemorrhage. She repeatedly told Robinson’s friends to take her to the hospital, but they either refused or delayed authorization.
At 4:20 p.m., Robinson had a seizure. That’s when one of her friends called 911 to request an ambulance.
About three to four hours after the doctor arrived, Robinson was pronounced dead.
Her friends told her family back in the United States that Robinson died from alcohol poisoning. But when her body got back to the U.S. on Nov, 10, 2022, her father noticed several physical injuries.
The Mexican autopsy found Robinson died from a severe spinal cord injury and broken neck.
Evidence Starts Appearing
Within weeks of her death, a disturbing video emerged on social media of Robinson being attacked by one of her travel companions during the trip. Her family has sought the truth and justice since.
By October 2024, Sallamondra Robinson, Robinson’s mother, had filed a wrongful death lawsuit in North Carolina against her daughter’s friends who were on the trip with Shanquella.
This month, Sallamondra Robinson’s attorneys filed a motion demanding that one of her friends, E’Mani Green, answer her questions.
Green went by Daejhanae Jackson at the time of the trip to Mexico.
The video, first shared by NC Beat, shows a naked Shanquella getting punched, thrown, and beaten by Green while someone off camera yells, “Quella, can you at least fight back?”
It’s unclear who recorded the video.
“It was her,” Robinson’s father, Bernard Robinson, told The New York Times at the time. “She’s not a fighter. She didn’t believe in drama. She wasn’t raised like that.”
Once Robinson was dead, the group of friends left Mexico. Robinson said he was shocked the Mexican authorities allowed them to leave the country.
“I can’t talk for her, but I am going to be her voice,” Robinson’s father said then. “I’m going to be her voice to the end because I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
Mexican Authorities Issue Warrant
The state attorney general’s office of Baja California Sur, in Mexico, issued an arrest warrant in connection with Shanquella’s death, but the subject of that warrant has not been officially identified as Green.
According to the authorities, “the investigation indicates that one of the young woman’s female friends allegedly caused her death.”
Despite the advocacy of Robinson’s family, the FBI did not execute an extradition of any suspects to Mexico. Federal prosecutors stated that the evidence collected did not support a U.S. criminal prosecution. They officially closed their investigation in April 2023.
The U.S. State Department monitored the investigation and supported a thorough review by local authorities, but reportedly never forwarded the request to extradite anyone to the Internal Affairs office.
Investigators added that they were initially focusing on who assaulted Robinson. The warrant is still active in Mexico.
When the FBI announced in April 2023 it would not press federal charges against anyone in connection with the case, the agency attributed the decision to insufficient evidence and conflicting autopsy findings.
According to Robinson’s mother, her attorneys served Green — who went by Daejhanae Jackson at the time of Robinson’s death — the first round of interrogatories in connection with the discovery phase of the suit back in June. She had until Aug. 3 to respond.
She produced nothing. Instead, Green’s legal team is asking the court to stay the lawsuit filed by Robinson’s mother so she never has to respond at all.
Court Demands Response
Atlanta Black Star obtained the motion. Some of the questions Robinson’s mother asked were relatively basic.
Attorneys want Green to describe, in great detail, how she attacked Robinson in the video. She was asked to provide when and where the attack happened, in addition to what even began the incident.
If she were to testify or give a deposition, it would be the first direct account of what happened in Mexico. Testimony under oath would also force her to address or defend her actions directly, matching or conflicting with her previous claims of self-defense.
According to the motion, Robinson’s mother also wants to know how Green first saw or obtained the video of the altercation. She also wants to know if she or anyone else requested medical help.
The court filing also asked whether any social media posts related to the incident were deleted, archived, hidden, or destroyed. Attorneys also asked Green for every social media account she’s used since January 2022.
Green was also asked to produce all documentation of the group’s travel itinerary as well as communications related to the trip.
“I just want justice for my daughter,” Robinson’s father 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.”
If Green ignores the order, the judge could fine her or impose other penalties.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to attorneys for both sides of the case but has not heard back.
