EP. 156: MEXICO - The Murder Of Shanquella Robinson & The Cabo 6

In October of 2022.

. However, in the end, only six would make it back. 25-year-old Shinquella Robinson had no idea that these so-called friends she traveled with did not have her best interest in mind. In just a few days into her trip, she would wind up dead in a luxury villa with her friends, claiming she died of alcohol poisoning. This group, who would later be referred to as the Cabo Six, quickly made their way back to the United States and tried their best to stay below the radar.

A video would surface showing Shinquella Robinson naked being brutally beaten by one of the girls in the group just hours before her death. And sadly, her autopsy would reveal that she did not die of alcohol poisoning, but by a severe spinal cord injury. So this is the story of Shinquella Robinson and the Cabo Six. I'm Courtney Brown.

Shinquella's bubbly, sociable nature allowed her to make friends easily. And even after all these years, she still had a close bond with friends. from her kindergarten days. Shinquella was popular in high school and won the title of prom queen during her senior year. After graduating from West Charlotte High, Shinquella went on to attend Winston-Salem University, which is a part of the University of North Carolina.

And it's a historically black university. Now, Shinquella had a very entrepreneurial spirit, so she decided to major in business. And she did really well. Shinquella was great at managing her studies while also keeping up with her social life. One of her best friends she met at college was a young man named Khalil Cook.

She and Khalil spent a lot of time together, and he would even go to her family's home all the time, joining them for dinner, holidays, birthdays, and even traveling with them for vacations. He seemed to be a part of the family. Shinquella's parents thought that Khalil had a good head on his shoulders and that they could trust him.

But Shinquella was the perfect person for the job. She loved kids, and her main goal was for them to be proud of their heritage. Dykayla Graves, a nail technician who rented a suite inside of the same building, said that she admired her work ethic, saying, quote, She was a hard worker. No matter what was going on in her life, she always worked. She would work until past midnight to get the job done, and would be back there early the next morning doing another person's hair, end quote.

But it wasn't just going to be them two. In addition to Shinquella and Khalil, there were five other people who were going, two of whom were celebrating their birthdays. Now, Shinquella had met these other five people in college, but she wasn't close with any of them. Her only real friend on the trip was Khalil. But that was okay with her.

She was just happy to go on a nice, relaxing vacation. And to make matters even better, the group had rented out this truly exquisite villa. Online, it was listed as $2,500 a night. It had multiple bedrooms with white marble flooring, a jacuzzi, a private chef, and a private pool with a swim-up bar that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. It was paradise.

And Shinquella was so excited to go. And, being this incredibly hard worker who never took time off, she deserved this trip. The day before the group was scheduled to fly out, Shinquella went to get her hair done by Laveria Smith, a close friend and neighbor. And while she sat in his chair, she talked with him about how excited she was to go to Cabo. She had meticulously planned out what she was going to pack for the vacation.

Stylish swimsuits and cute dresses. By all accounts, Shinquella was really looking forward to traveling with the Cabo 6, as they would later be named.

She said,

The group checked into their luxurious resort at Villa Linda 32 in the distinguished community of Puerto Los Cabos, and it was even prettier in person. The villa was huge, big enough for 12 people, and the views were stunning. Everyone ran around, going room to room, each picking out which room they wanted, and after they found it, they began unpacking their things. It was exciting. The group also planned to go on boats and ride AFVs.

It was truly the vacation of a lifetime, and an experience never to be forgotten.

Although ironic, the video didn't appear to be nefarious. If anything, it looked like two friends sharing a funny, lighthearted moment. But given the events that transpired the next day, that video proved to be an ominous prediction of what was ahead. But in the meantime, the group seemed to be having fun. Videos and pictures posted on social media showed the group laughing, drinking alcohol, playing cards, and even skinny dipping.

However, the concierge working at the villa on the day the group arrived would later tell the Charlotte Observer that something seemed off when he checked in Shinquella and the other guests. He also noted that she was the last person to join the group at dinner that evening. Sorry. He also noted that she was the last person to join the group at dinner that evening, and admitted, quote, She seemed not to fit in with the others. End quote.

And that was kind of true. The other people on the trip were close friends, while Shinquella was only really friends with Khalil. But she wasn't going to let that bother her. In fact, it was clear that she had been trying to connect with the other five people. On October 29th, Shinquella posted a video to her Instagram account showing her walking around the villa looking for the other girls in the group.

In the video, she jokingly said, quote, It don't take that long to get naked, hoes. Where y'all at?

I'm going to keep it hot.

But based on what happens later, this video is pretty eerie. However, whatever was going on inside of Villa Linda 32 on the morning of October 29th, Shinquella continued to be energized, bubbly, and positive. She wanted to enjoy her trip. And on that day, she wanted to start it with a dip in the pool. But sadly, the fun day she had planned would end in tragedy.

Only hours after Shinquella's video was posted to social media, at around 1.

50 p.

m.

, it was reported that one of the girls in the group, Dajanae Jackson, texted the concierge at the villa and asked him where the nearest medical facility was located. The text read, quote,

end quote. The concierge responded that he could send a doctor that spoke English and they would be able to determine if their friend needed to be taken to a hospital. Dajanae agreed and told him to send the doctor, quote, as soon as possible. About 10 minutes later, at 2 p.m., the concierge phoned the on-call doctor at the villa, who was a woman named Dr. Carolina Gutierrez of the American Medical Center.

Now, for whatever reason, Dr. Gutierrez wouldn't show up to the villa until 3.15 p.m., over an hour after she was called. When she did finally get there, she determined that Shinquella was, quote, minimally responsive and clearly dehydrated, but her vital signs were stable. It was reported that Shinquella was making sounds, but she wasn't able to make full sentences, which is something you would expect if someone was so drunk. they had alcohol poisoning.

Shinquella's friends told the doctor that she had been drinking all day and that she probably just needed an IV to get rehydrated. So Dr. Gutierrez attempted to administer an IV, but she wasn't able to find a vein, which is pretty common if someone is extremely dehydrated. So from here, Dr. Gutierrez told the group that it would probably be best to take Shinquella to the hospital, but the friends refused.

They wanted the doctor to treat her at the villa. It was later reported that one of the group members said that the reason they didn't want to take her to the hospital was because of the cost. So because of that, Dr. Gutierrez continued to help Shinquella in the video, and while she did that, her friend Khalil decided to call her parents in Charlotte to let them know what was going on. Shinquella's mom, Salamandra, said that she received a phone call at 4 p.m.

from Khalil's phone. When she answered, she expected to hear her daughter's voice, because the day before, she promised to give her mom a call. But instead of hearing Shinquella, she heard her friend Khalil on the other end. He appeared calm as he told her that Shinquella wasn't feeling well and she most likely had alcohol poisoning, which is so scary to hear for any parent. Salamandra said she was shocked, and she begged Khalil to take Shinquella to the doctor.

But Khalil told her that the doctor was already in the room with Shinquella and that everything was okay. So Salamandra asked if she could speak with the doctor, but Khalil responded that she was busy taking care of her daughter, everything would be okay, and he would give her an update if anything changed. Then from there, he hung up the phone.

But Shinquella would not get any better. In fact, at 4.49 p.m., it was reported that Shinquella started convulsing and had a seizure that lasted less than one minute. It was also obvious that Shinquella was struggling to breathe, and soon enough, she was in full-blown cardiac arrest. Dr. Gutierrez quickly called paramedics while she and the friends took turns administering CPR, as Shinquella's pulse stopped.

When the ambulance finally arrived, they administered a total of 14 rounds of CPR, five doses of adrenaline, and six discharges AED shocks, without success. Unfortunately, Shinquella Robinson was pronounced dead at 5.57 p.m., with the cause of death listed as cardiopulmonary arrest. A police report was written after her death, and it stated that Shinquella passed away two hours and 45 minutes after Dr. Gutierrez arrived at the scene, and that there were no visible injuries on her body. Of course, this information would later be disputed.

He didn't appear to be upset or panicked that he just lost his best friend. Salamandra was also confused because, although her daughter did drink alcohol, she was a responsible young woman who knew her limits. Shinquella had never had any issues with alcohol consumption, and she never drank to the point of where it was a problem. But back in Cabo, Shinquella's body was taken by the Mexican authorities for a partial autopsy that was conducted on the morning of October 30th. The concierge later reported in a witness statement that after he learned of Shinquella's death, he was instructed by his supervisor to go to the villa and find out if there was anything he could do to help.

When he arrived, he found a group of police officers outside speaking to one of the house guests. And as he made his way inside, he found the remainder of the group calmly sitting in the living room, near the bar. He said, quote, My purpose was to look for the main guest, Miss Jackson, and give her my condolences. When I talked to her, I gave her my condolences. She thanked me and told me that they had talked to her friend's mother and mentioned that this was so fast, quote, to lose her in an instant for having too much alcohol.

I asked her if I could give her a hug, to which she said yes, and she gave me a very indifferent hug, very cold. I saw a very sad guest, a skinny girl, and I saw that she was in pain. I left that area and stayed outside the main entrance to give them space to mourn and agree. But minutes later, I heard laughter, end quote.

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Now, as for the Cabo 6, they all decided to end their vacation early and rebooked flights out of Mexico and went back to North Carolina almost immediately. Shockingly, it was also reported that the Cabo 6 had already started looking into earlier flights back to the U.S. after only being in Mexico for 24 hours before Shanquella's death. And this prompted people to wonder about their underlying intentions. Why look for flights home, right when you get there?

But now that Shanquella had passed, they're all rushing to get back. Now, the Cabo 6 ended up stuffing all of Shanquella's belongings into her suitcase and would later return them to her family in Charlotte.

But the one person Salamandra felt like she could trust was Khalil. After all, he was her daughter's best friend. They had known each other for years, and Khalil had even gone on vacations with them. Surely, he would be the one to tell her the truth. But when he sat down in their family living room, he too was acting strange.

Salamandra expected him to be grieving along with their family as they dealt with this loss. But that didn't seem to be the case. And with all of the inconsistencies in their stories, Salamandra knew that something was wrong here. Even further, after this initial meeting with the Cabo 6, where each of them came to tell her what happened, the group seemed to have disappeared, wanting to get as far away from Chinquella's family as possible. But for now, her parents had a lot on their plates.

Like getting her body back to the U.

S. Her father, Bernard, called the vacation villa in Mexico, and the Mexican authorities numerous times to find out what he had to do to extradite her body back to America. But he said it was almost impossible to get anyone on the phone. There was also a language barrier, which didn't help as well. And on top of all of this, they were still trying to figure out exactly what happened.

Without any information from anyone in Mexico, the Robinsons were forced to rely on what the Cabo 6 had told them. But deep down, they knew that the group was lying. And that would be confirmed. days later, when Salamandra received an anonymous phone call. On the other end of the line, this person told her that her daughter's death was not accidental.

In fact, they said Chinquella had, quote, been beaten into submission. From that moment on, the Robinsons made it their life mission to get to the bottom of what happened.

Oseguera also noted a 3-inch bruise on her forehead, bruises on her anatomic snuff box, which was located on her left wrist, and bruises on both sides of her pelvis, a split lip, and internal hemorrhaging behind her right eye. The autopsy report also said that Chinquella obtained these injuries more than 12 hours before her death. The final assessment stated that the type of manner of death was violent. Unfortunately, the Robinson family did not know these new details, as Bernard was still struggling to find someone in Mexico who could speak English. Every day, multiple times per day, Bernard called to get information from someone who could help bring Chinquella home.

And finally, after calling the villa, someone picked up. It was a woman from the management team who could speak English. She informed Bernard that Chinquella had not passed away from alcohol poisoning. She had died because her neck had been broken. Bernard told the Washington Post, She's an angel.

She's the one who first told us the truth. She said, Mr. Robinson, your daughter didn't die of alcohol poisoning. She died of a broken neck. Both Bernard and Salamandra were devastated and shocked at the news.

And even more so because Chinquella's so-called friends had blatantly lied to them about what happened. Salamandra vowed to find the truth as to what happened to her child and who was responsible. And it would only be a few weeks before she uncovered the truth.

And it appeared that Chinquella's best friend, Khalil Cook, was the one recording it. Khalil could also be heard saying, Chinquella, can't you at least fight back? To which she defeatedly responded, no.

Desjanae then kicked Chinquella's head with her knee, which sent her stumbling to the other side of the room. And it was only then when the video stopped recording. Now to this day, no one really knows why Chinquella was being beat up. But it's clear in the video that she was extremely vulnerable. Keep in mind, she was naked.

And while she was getting beaten, her so-called friends were videoing it. When the video went viral after being uploaded to Twitter, the people who saw it wondered why nobody intervened to stop the attack and instead chose to film it. Especially when the person recording was Chinquella's best friend. Her father, Bernard, was out searching for a grave site for his daughter when he learned there was a video of her attack. And when her parents watched it, they felt sick.

They had always speculated that the Cabo 6 had been lying about what happened. But now they had proof. Chinquella's sister, Quilla Long, said that after she saw the video, she immediately called Khalil Cook. She said, quote, I called his ass after I saw the video and he won't even pick up the phone. End quote.

Now, after the autopsy results from Mexico were given to the Robinson family on November 4th, Salamandra said she asked each one of the Cabo 6 what they did to her child. She said one of the males broke out into a sweat and immediately left her house. And Salamandra never heard from them again. But after the video went viral, people began to theorize on what went down on the Cabo vacation. A subreddit forum was even created titled Chinquella Robinson, and people were quick to offer.

Suspicions also fell on that video Chinquella posted on the morning of October 29th. The one where she walked into the room and those girls were standing in a circle talking about her. Some people speculate that the group was conspiring to jump her. Keep in mind, in that video, Chinquella was naked and hours later, she was being jumped while also naked. But Salamandra said that she believed the women attacked her daughter when she was asleep, because Chinquella was known to sleep naked.

She said that the women attacked her when Chinquella was most vulnerable and they wanted to humiliate her by recording it. As all of this was unfolding, internet sleuths searched for clues on the social media accounts of the Cabo 6.. But once those videos went viral, many of them deleted their accounts and stopped communicating with the Robinson family altogether.

However, due to the first video going viral on social media and the story being thrust into the spotlight, Mexican authorities and the FBI finally got involved. The Robinson family and everyone following the case closely on social media were outraged. after the autopsy, results indicated that Shankwella had suffered a brutal and violent death. But the police report from Mexico still stated that she had passed from alcohol poisoning. It was also upsetting for people to learn that the Combo 6 had fled Mexico and gone back to the U.S.

without being questioned and were back to living their normal lives. Mexican authorities were investigating the death of Shankwella as femicide, a gender-based homicide that's similar to a hate crime in the U.S. Serbian judge, Ivana Milovanovic, explained to UN Women that femicide differs from other forms of murder because it's the gender-related killing of a woman only because she's a woman. This indicates that the root causes of femicide differs from any other types of murder and are related to the general position of women in the society, discrimination against women, gender roles, unequal distribution of power between men and women, habitual gender stereotypes, prejudices, and violence against women. The United States does not differentiate between femicide and homicide, but certain countries, including those in Latin America, recognize that violence against women is in a category of its own.

The Attorney General in Baja California, Sir Daniel Del Rosa Anaya, said the fight wasn't a quarrel, but instead a direct aggression. It's about two Americans, the victim and the culprit. Unfortunately, Beatriz Garcia Nice, a project lead for Wilson Center's Initiative on Gender-Based Violence, admitted that Mexico is one of the countries that really struggles with these types of homicides against women and added if you commit a crime of femicide, there's really not that much of a chance for you to get convicted for it, and that's one of the reasons why we see that rates are still very, very.

However, by the end of November 2022, the original police report and Shanquella's autopsy report were given to her family, and there were major inconsistencies between the two. For instance, the police report, which was released on November 21st, stated from Dr. Carolina Gutierrez and the two police officers who responded to the scene, that Shanquella had passed away due to a seizure brought on by alcohol poisoning. The police report also listed her time of death as 5.57 p.m. But her autopsy report said something totally different.

The doctor who conducted her autopsy said that she had to have died around 3 p.

m.

, which is almost a three-hour difference from what the police report says. Her official death certificate said that Shanquella died of a spinal cord injury, and her manner of death was considered violent. It also stated that Shanquella's death occurred within 15 minutes of receiving the final blow that snapped her neck. But how could that be possible? If that were true, then that would mean that Shanquella died right around the time the doctor arrived at the villa.

But the doctor claimed she died hours later. And, believe it or not, in the police report, there was no mention of Shanquella's physical injuries to her body, while the autopsy report mentioned numerous bruises, a split lip, and hemorrhaging behind her right eye. So, why wasn't any of this noted in the police report? Interestingly enough, the autopsy report also had no mentions of alcohol or any other substance found in Shanquella's system at the time of death. Now, toxicology reports usually take weeks to come back, but it is important to note that the medical examiner did not mention alcohol at any point in the autopsy report.

I don't want to say that all police reports are false, but you definitely cannot rely just on a report. But the police report and the autopsy report only created more questions for the Robinson family. How was Shanquella alive for 2 hours and 45 minutes while Dr. Gutierrez attempted to revive her? But the autopsy report suggested she was deceased within 15 minutes after receiving the fatal blow to her neck.

It's been speculated that the police and Dr. Gutierrez lied. But of course, this is mere conjecture at this point, but it created more suspicions about what exactly happened to Shanquella. on October 29th. The media attention continued to invoke a global outcry, with the hashtag Justice for Shanquella trending on Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.

Although the Cabo 6 remained radio silent after information and footage leaked regarding Shanquella's death, Nazir Wiggins, the friend who arrived late to the vacation on October 29th, went live on his social media and talked about what he witnessed. So far, he's the only person to ever speak about what happened inside Villa Linda 32.. But keep in mind, this is a livestream, so some of the audio is a little messed up.

I went in there and told them it was alcohol poisoning, so that's what I helped her, as. That's what I helped her, as. I didn't leave her side. I put on soft music. Someone walked up rubbing their head to.

the nurse came in. Nobody even talked about the nurse. Nobody even said the nurse came. None of this stuff. So I'm really not understanding.

I say that and I go out and make that video cooking, so we made it to the living room. I put on some soft music, sitting with her, rubbing her head, just chilling, waiting until the nurse came, because that's what I was informed that was happening. At first, I was told that it was a male coming and then a female.

Her slumped over her toilet in her room. That's what I was told. Quilla was not dead when I got there.

Um, yeah, boom. Okay, so when I get in there, I go in, I see Quilla, I see she chilling, I put her aside. I go out and make that video. while I'm talking about I'm here, that I, Quilla, get up. I'm thinking like, damn, we got stuff to do.

ATVs, a boat, dinner. I miss the chefs. I miss everything. Um, so I'm like, damn, I'm thinking, Quilla, let's get up.

Clearly, she knew she was in rough shape, but she just continued to treat her at the villa. Now, the doctor would later say that the friends didn't want Chinquilla going to the hospital because it would be too expensive, but hospital visits in Mexico are way cheaper compared to the United States. And even if it was very expensive, you have a 25-year-old girl who is dying in front of you. The cost shouldn't matter and she should have been sent to the hospital immediately. But all of this information only clouded the case even more.

And the one question that lingered in everyone's mind was what in the hell happened? And why were people lying?

S.

, the FBI ordered another autopsy, which took place on November 17, 2022.

. That morning, around 9 a.m., the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office started the autopsy, but the report wouldn't be made public until April 2023.. Meanwhile, 25 days after Chinquilla's death on November 24,, Attorney General Daniel de la Rosa Anaya in Mexico announced that a warrant for arrest and extradition has been issued for one of the female members of the Compo 6.. He stated, This case is fully clarified. We even have a court order.

There's an arrest warrant issued for the crime of femicide to the detriment of the victim and against an alleged perpetrator, a friend of hers, who was the aggressor. Actually, it wasn't a quarrel, but instead a direct aggression. We are carrying out all the pertinent procedures, such as the Interpol alert and the request for extradition to the United States of America. It's about two Americans, the victim and the culprit. It was later reported that the American citizen was Dajanae Jackson, the woman who was observed as being the aggressor in the video that went viral.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Dajanae had two prior arrests in North Carolina before the Cabo incident, but both were nonviolent offenses, with one being a speeding ticket in Guilford County. But despite an arrest warrant being issued for Dajanae Jackson, there have been no legitimate reports that indicate she was ever brought into police custody. However, a Mexican news outlet titled Metropolitan Mix reported that Dajanae was arrested by Interpol agents on November 28, 2022.. Metropolitan Mix said that she was apprehended in Connecticut and was being held in federal custody. But the Robinson family stated that they were never made aware of any arrest in their daughter's murder.

In response, Metropolitan Mix stated that the Mexican government wanted the arrest to be kept secret to avoid violating the due process of extradition. But this information has not been confirmed.

End quote. And it appeared that the Mexican authorities and the FBI were finally taking the murder of Shinquela seriously after her sister, Quila Long, created a GoFundMe page. The page read, quote, The United States released a statement claiming, quote, no clear evidence of foul play. Yet there is a video circulating of a woman violently attacking Shinquela. This statement is unacceptable and we are beyond devastated.

We continue to fight for the truth. The GoFundMe would ultimately raise $407,982 for the Robinson family, which included a top donation of $50,000 from the American professional basketball player, Kyrie Irving. Quila said that the donations would help with Shinquela's funeral expenses as well as legal fees. Now, in December of 2022, Quila Long spoke to Nancy Grace on her podcast, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, about the ongoing investigation into her sister's murder. Nancy asked Quila Long, what are the police telling your mom?

And Quila responded, as of now, nothing. The FBI, when she's in contact with them, they tell her they can't give her any more information and to just be patient. End quote.

Hundreds of friends, family and members of the community arrived to show their support and grieve the untimely death of the 25-year-old woman. Her pink and white coffin was brought in on a horse-drawn carriage, and mourners wore pink in her honor.

Sometimes my daughter just don't do wrong in front of her father's eyes and everything, and, you know, she was the twinkle of his eye. Robinson's death remains a mystery. After a trip with friends in Kabul last month, but her death captured the hearts of communities beyond the Queen City. It means a lot to see Charlotte supporting her and her family. I have a daughter.

I have nieces. That child was amongst friends and she should have been able to feel comfortable and feel safe. This shouldn't have happened. Robinson's neighbor and stylist, LaVaris Smith, styled her hair for the trip and says he's heartbroken. She was just excited about going on a trip.

Mallory says she stands in solidarity with the Robinsons. Losing a loved one in the heinous way in which it has happened to Shankwella, there probably will never be peace for them, but there cannot just be an unopened situation. It has to be closed with truth and it has to be that there is accountability for those who are responsible for her death. Griffin says this is a tough loss and he is leaning to his faith. Everybody that have children, either it's a son or a father, or a daughter, or anything, it make, you want to just get down on your knees and pray for this family and then pray for the protection over your own children.

Jessie, Pierre, WCNC, Charlotte.

Somber moments with an outpouring.

I'm sad.

But in the video, Robinson's father confirming it shows Robinson being beaten in what appears on the trip to Mexico. According to the death certificate, Robinson's cause of death was severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation, which is instability of the uppermost neck vertebrae. Recently, according to a Mexican prosecutor, an arrest warrant has been issued for one of Robinson's friends in relation to her death. What do we want?

The balloon release on January 9th, 2023 was hosted by the Million Youth March. Hundreds of balloons were released and one of Shangquilla's closest friends, a woman named Shanautica, told WCNC Charlotte that birthday celebrations were always Shangquilla's favorite. One of the group organizers stated quote, the Robinson family became Charlotte's family when this tragedy happened. So ensuring and seeing the hashtags on social media is very important. The case's momentum appeared to hinge solely on its social media presence and the hashtag justice for Shangquilla Robinson continued to make its rounds on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Although it is not an international arrest warrant, a red notice serves as a request for countries to work together to locate and detain a suspect pending legal proceedings. It was a positive step forward for the Robinson family, but of course, there were limitations with the murder happening outside of the U.S. Chris Sweeker, a retired FBI agent, spoke with WCNC Charlotte and admitted, if the foreign country is willing to prosecute that individual, they will exercise their jurisdiction. The other one is, if that perpetrator is out of the country where the murder took place, then that country has no means of prosecuting or investigating the perpetrator. During her podcast, Nancy Grace slammed the United States' efforts in helping locate the Cabo 6 and said that it shouldn't be a hard task.

She also said that if any of the family members were actively hiding the suspects, then they too should be charged with harboring a fugitive. But despite the international attention on Shanquella's case, the Cabo 6 were still going about their normal routines, while the Robinson family endured torment day in and day.

in pink envelopes, Shanquella's favorite color. Civil rights activist John C. Barnett said, quote, every time they see a pink envelope, they are going to know that we are trying to put pressure on them to execute. the warrant to arrest these individuals. End quote.

The people who really love her and genuinely know her and genuinely, you know, have been around her, we know we're not letting up. The call for justice in the case of Shanquella Robinson continues. Family, friends, and supporters putting their demands in writing, filling each pink envelope with a letter to Mexican authorities asking them to take action. So every time they see a pink envelope, they're going to know that we're trying to put pressure on them to execute the warrants to lock up these individuals. In October, Robinson tragically lost her life during a vacation with friends in Cabo.

Mexican authorities filed an arrest warrant in her case the following month after a video showed her violently beaten by one of her friends. But months later, no one has been arrested for her death. In my letter, it mainly states, we want justice now or you guys won't be able to rest. But I made sure I put in that letter how we genuinely feel, how it hasn't been easy since it happened. And I am going to continue to send letters, make phone calls, do more marches, whatever we have to do.

What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! The group marched to the post office to mail about a hundred letters to not only Mexican authorities, but also the White House, holding a banner with Robinson's photo and the words, Fight for Kuala.

She is from North Carolina. She is our daughter. She's everybody's daughter, everybody's cousin, everybody's sister, everybody's granddaughter. And we need to support her family and continue to say her name. Kuala!

Loved ones, hoping that with every letter mailed, it is a step.

Ben Crump, a renowned civil rights attorney, was responsible for bringing attention to the justice of high profile, was responsible for bringing attention and justice to the high profile cases of Trayvon, Martin, George Floyd, and the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were poisoned by the water of the Flint River. Now, with this help, in the case of Shanquella, the Robinson family was hopeful that the United States would finally listen and bring justice to their daughter. Ben Crump would later say, quote, it's not a hard ask. Either extradite the killer or take jurisdiction so you can prosecute the killer. It's simple.

We are asking for a high level of diplomatic intervention from the President of the United States and for the Department of Justice to do what is necessary to bring the person and people who are responsible for her murder to justice.

Monique Presley. We have the honor of representing the mother of Shanquella Robinson and her family. We also have present with us a force of nature in the name of Tamika Mallory with Until Freedom. Also, we have my son, the general. We have Angelo, the professor.

Linda Sarson and other freedom fighters and activists, not only here in Washington D.

C. but especially in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. And we applaud those activists from Charlotte from being there from the beginning to the end. We are delighted and so thankful to have one of our true icons, one of our heroes, standing for justice for the family of Shanquella Robinson, and that is none other than Dr. Ben Chavis, the head of the National Newspaper Association.

Thank you so much, Dr. Chavis, for being here.

Attorney Robinson and Ms. Mallory, we talked about this day with the family long before it happened and we were praying that we would not have to come here on this day. Six months later, 200 days later from when Ms. Salamandra's baby, Shanquella, was tragically killed on that video to Quilla's. her sister is also present with us.

And we were hopeful that the killers of Shanquella Robinson would have already started to face.

would have already started to face their victims.

We want to make sure everybody can hear.

We were hopeful that this day never had to happen. Six months, March, from when Shanquella Robinson was killed,

We were hoping that that was enough evidence to say you should be arrested and let the wheels of justice start turning, because Shanquella's life.

Imagine if this is your daughter who you bear and you brought into this world.

Just imagine that, and nobody is being held accountable for how they killed her. And that's why I'm so thankful to my partner, attorney Sue Ann Robertson and Tamika Mallory, these strong black women, saying that it's not just your sister, Shanquella.

Robertson is all our sister. And if it can happen to Shanquella Robertson, then it can happen to your sister, too. So we all got to stand up for justice for Shanquella Robertson. Justice for Shanquella.

She added, Forget about her being a black woman. She is a woman and she is a United States citizen, and we know what you can do. Let me tell you how we know what you can do, because we've seen you do it before. When Natalie Holloway went missing in Aruba, America stopped and stood still. Natalie Holloway was in our homes every day and she should have been, and so should Shanquella Robertson.

Salamandra stated that while the Cabo 6 returned to work and their normal lives, their lives had been turned upside down and they were left to wait and beg for answers. in their daughter's case. On March 13th, Ben Crump and Sue Ann Robinson shared a letter that they wrote to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that identified Dajanae Jackson as the aggressor in the video that showed Shanquella being beaten to death. Included with the letter was an 18 page document that included the Mexican autopsy, police report, the original Cabo Villa's rental agreement and multiple interviews with witnesses after the murder. The letter stated, Dear President Biden and Secretary Blinken, on behalf of the family of Shanquella Robinson, we write to request immediate diplomatic intervention from the U.S.

government in this transnational criminal case. The case involves the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25 year old, ambitious, bright entrepreneur and American citizen. Given the nature and scope of this case, we believe that diplomatic intervention from the U.S. government could help facilitate the necessary cooperation and coordination between the involved parties to ensure that justice is served timely, that the accused are tried under the appropriate legal system, that extradition is possible and that international cooperation is fostered. The document.

. Although the name is blacked out, the man admitted that he saw the video of Shanquella being beaten inside the bedroom and he concluded that after watching the video and looking at the sun rays, he indicated that the video was taken between 7 and 8.30 a.m. saying quote. in the video it can be seen that the headboard is illuminated by the sun's rays and due to the location of the sun's rays, I can deduce that it is between 7 and 8.30 a.m. since the bedrooms one and three are waterfront and it's easy to deduce the morning schedule, since the sun rises on the seaside illuminating those rooms.

That is room number three, because that is the only one that has a hammock outside of it and the hammock can be seen in the video end quote. Also included was the official statement from the concierge, who admitted to hearing the Kaposiks laugh after Shanquella's death and how the group packed up their belongings and left the villa without informing anyone at the front desk. The concierge said that Dejane Jackson texted him at 9 p.m. on October 29th and asked for a driver to take them to dinner in San Jose. Apparently, the group hadn't eaten all day and they were hungry.

but the concierge was later informed that instead of going to a restaurant, the group had the driver take them to the airport, where they quickly flew back to the United States on October 30th. He would later say quote. when I saw the video on social media, I realized that practically the main guest, Miss Jackson, had manipulated me with the information she provided of what happened to leave the country as soon as possible. end quote. But months later, on March 16th, the White House publicly addressed the murder of Shanquella Robinson for the first time with a press conference given by the White House press secretary.

So let me just first say our hearts go out to Miss Robinson's family and friends. It is devastating what occurred and certainly the tragedy is just devastating and we've been following the news here. but because there's an FBI investigation underway, there's very little that we can say. We've got to. as you know, we are very careful about criminal investigations or any investigations that are currently happening through DOJ, in this particular case, FBI.

but our hearts go out to again to the families and I would have to refer you to the DOJ and the State Department on this. Let me ask you this, so, since there's an FBI investigation, does that mean nothing happens until the investigation is complete? or I mean United States has extradition treaty with Mexico. Is all of this contingent upon the FBI investigation? What I can say is there's an investigation going on, so this is something that the FBI has to speak to.

so that's why I'm referring you to the Department of Justice, and it's also an issue of the State Department again. so I would refer you to the State Department as it relates to another country and the diplomatic conversations that occur there. but again, this is something that we're clearly following here, and our hearts go out to her family. And last question on this, though, are there capabilities for the United States to take jurisdiction over this if it doesn't go, if the suspect does not extradite back? April, I understand the question and I appreciate the questions, all important questions to ask of me, but again, there's an ongoing investigation, so I would refer you to the Department of Justice.

Not necessarily the investigation, but there is a process that's currently happening because of the investigation. so I would refer you to the Department of Justice and also the State Department as there are, you know, this is a diplomatic issue that needs to be handled on that aspect.

and that was either.

because there's an outstanding warrant by.

the Mexican government based on the evidence, not just on the video, but as evidence of autopsy that her neck was broke. That was the cause of death. And we see how her neck got broke based on the video.

Or to.

accept the concurrent jurisdiction that the Mexican government has offered America to come and have a federal prosecutor prosecute the killers of Shankwella Robinson. And the reason.

S. citizens. I don't have to tell you all the story. Her and.

it's inexplicable, whether it's envy or what,

We expect Senator Menendez, who's over at the Foreign Relations Committee, to have a meeting with our legal team and the family, Tamika, Mallory and others who have been advocating for justice, to explain to us why they can do all these things for other people where they have no video evidence. but when you have video evidence of what happened to this angel from Charlotte, you all are slow tracking. It don't make any sense to any of us. And then also we expect that we're going to have, whether virtually or in person, a meeting with the White House after.

And we're going to get justice for Shakila Robinson. We're going to get justice one way or the other for Shakila Robinson.

And if we don't get it by the 200 days, then we'll have to demand louder.

" End quote. It was now five months after the murder of Shanquella and nothing had been done to arrest the people responsible. Sue Ann Robinson also stated that all of the COP06 had been located, but no one had reached out to them. And, more importantly, no one had been taken into custody. She said, quote, "'They're all sleeping in their beds at night.

They're not in custody anywhere.

'" End quote. The Robinson family, along with everyone who has followed the case from the beginning, were frustrated as there was no progress in the case.

One of the witnesses, one of the personnel, then was brought in and they watched the video and identified the person attacking and beating Shanquella Robinson. And that person was named as the aggressor by the Mexican authorities. Mexican authorities have filed an arrest warrant and extradition proceedings for the aggressor identified, but no one has yet been arrested. Robinson says they want the US to intervene to either extradite the person identified or ask for a concurrent jurisdiction to do their own investigation. Only the United States' highest office, the president, the Department of State, really has the authority to do those things.

And has the authority to say to the Department of Justice, to say to the head of the FBI, you need to prioritize this case. Robinson says their legal team is meeting with White House officials next week to find out the status of the case.

He pointed out that Mexican officials did not properly or fully inspect Shanquella's spine during the initial autopsy and attributed this to a partial autopsy. As for the toxicology reports, both found that there were no traces of alcohol in Shanquella's system. But Dr. Owens stated that if she had consumed large amounts of alcohol the previous night, on October 28th, because she was not taken to the hospital when she became unresponsive, it cannot be determined what the alcohol content was in her system leading up to her death. According to the original police report, Shanquella was found passed out inside the bathroom by the maid on the afternoon of October 29th.

There was a large bruise found on Shanquella's forehead and hemorrhaging inside her right eye that Dr. Owens said either happened when she fell or perhaps blunt force trauma from the assault caused her to get a concussion, which led to the fall. If Shanquella received a concussion from the repeated beatings that were recorded on the video, Dr. Owens said it could have resulted in her passing out and her level of consciousness when medical help arrived. In addition to these injuries, Dr.

Owens noted multiple scratches and bruises on her arms, right leg, and lower abdomen. And there were also traces of vomit found in her throat. Although there were no spinal injuries, there was a hypoxic ischemic brain injury, which can lead to brain swelling. But that can also happen after a person goes into cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest was listed as her original cause of death in the police report.

Ultimately, due to the second autopsy administered in the U.

S. revealing that Shanquella's cause of death was undetermined, the Department of Justice said that the evidence did not support federal prosecution.

And again, any discrepancies or any issues with respect to Mexican autopsy versus the autopsy conducted by the FBI, all of those things are going to be a result of a delay.

And now we're witnessing the result of a delay, which is why there was always a concern, which is why I always say this is the people's case. This is the people's movement that said, hey, there's no reason why a black woman should go on vacation with her friends, be returned to her family in a box, and nothing be done for five months, that the FBI be permitted to sit on their hands, that they be permitted to say we're working, because justice delayed can be justice denied. We all know that and have seen it time and time again. And so that's why I say on behalf of the family, again, we're very disappointed, very deeply disappointed,

but we're not deterred because it's something that we've seen before. And we know that we have to carve our own path to justice. Ms. Robinson knew that when she asked me to go on a fact-finding mission to Mexico, that we were obviously in a state of affairs where there's two different justice systems in America. And we know that in ours, we have to fight for our justice.

We have to rally for our justice. We have to beg for the same constitutional rights. And Shenquilla is doing that even in death. Even in death, she's having to fight for her rights as a U.S. citizen, as a victim of a crime.

The U.

S. authorities have to understand and have to know that, even if for them, it's not about Shenquilla, that United States citizens cannot go to Mexico, commit a crime that we all saw on a video, and then come back to America and say, we're on base, we're safe, we're not gonna be charged with a crime. That cannot be the message that the U.S. authorities want to send. So again, discrepancies caused, or discrepancies in the autopsy results between Mexican authorities that we've all been discussing, that we've been discussing, unfortunately, and not being discussed by the right individuals, have caused, have all been caused by delays.

If it had been taken serious from the very beginning, if the internet and the people and social media didn't have to create the movement behind the case, and the authorities would have gotten involved the minute the video surfaced, there wouldn't have been a delay. There would have been immediate statements taken from the individuals involved. There would have been time to take an immediate autopsy of the body before it was embalmed. All of those things would have been done, but because it was the death of a young, black, beautiful, brilliant, educated woman who was on vacation, justice was delayed. There was no investigation done.

It was not taken seriously until the people had to say, hey, we're not gonna accept that this is just what it is. This can't be just what it is. We see with our own eyes an attack, an assault, a crime happening, and nothing's being done. That came from you all. That came from the people saying, we demand answers.

And today, we actually ended up with way more questions than answers. And so that's why I'm determined and fully aware, and the team, Ben Crump, Tamika Mallory, Untold Freedom, Mario Black, all of us, we stand with this family, and we're gonna stand with this family till the very end.

As in any case, the government is prepared to review and examine new information related to the investigation should it become available, end quote. The Robinson family was told that if there were any criminal charges, it was now up to Mexico to arrest the Cabo Six. Stephen Ward, a retired assistant district attorney, said that even though the United States decided not to pursue charges, it does not mean that it would affect extradition, saying, quote, when an extradition request is made, that's simply asking the jurisdiction that receives the request for police to pick this person up and turn them over to us. But of course, these situations don't happen overnight, and an extradition request could take a lot of time.

The Robinson family is heartbroken, tired, and still grieving the death of Shankwell, but they're committed to continuing the fight until justice is served. The case continues to circulate on social media, and Salamandra said that she is grateful for the continual outpouring of love for her daughter. She thanked Twitter for shedding light on the case and not allowing it to go cold.

I hope them girls learn a lesson that it is not safe for them in these streets out here, for real, because y'all, if you look at the recent video, the girl who was fighting Shangquilla, she won't really get in touch like I needed her to get in touch, like I needed her to be getting work, like the wig was still on, she was still standing up. She's in a blue shirt and shorts. She won't get in touch. enough for me. And that's unjustice for Shangquilla.

But thank you, Greensboro, for holding it down. That's real of you. In all honesty, it really just goes to show what kind of friends they are. They legit. let they friend, Joya, get beat up.

Like I'm talking about, she in more fights than they are. And the camera person, fire. But like, her getting locked in a headlock with a man, I don't condone a man beating up a woman or like fighting a woman, but it's the headlock he had her in. Just, you just cut to it, it's just too much. But when you see DJ standing on the side, not trying to jump in, I know why she ain't trying to jump in, because they know she would've got rocked, especially for the first video, baby.

You was beating that girl, she won't fight him back. You want to fight somebody who want to fight back now?

But until then, we can honor Shangquilla's legacy by shedding light on her case and ensuring that her name remains spoken in the media.

Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. We are just hoping that there are some answers in this case soon. I mean, my personal opinion, total, complete negligence and a lack of care from the FBI, not something that we haven't seen before when dealing with government organizations like that, but still just a really sad story and an infuriating story that makes you wanna do something, even though you can't. But I wanna shout out some of our new patrons this week, Evelinda C., Hubert Jaworski, Kira Seherstedt, Melanie Hawking, Ryan, Ashley Smith, Zing Murk, Connor, Adriana Felix, Amber Norell, Melissa Rice, Jeremiah Kitchen, Selene Yalsinkaya, Andrew Marriott, Nikki Appender, and so many more.

So thank you all for being patrons. If you wanna become a member on Patreon, all you have to do is head to the link in our show description or go to patreon.com and search Murder in America. For $5 a month, you get access to all of our episodes that go on the main feed of the show, early and ad-free. For $10 a month, you get the early ad-free plus two full-length bonus episodes of Murder in America. And for $20 a month, you get a bonus episode.

every week. You get four bonus episodes of Murder in America, plus the early ad-free access. So if you love the show, you love what we're doing, definitely join us on Patreon, because if you join today, we have over 100 episodes that you can just stream immediately. Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram, at Murder in America. We will be back next week.

We hope you guys have been enjoying our Murdered Americans series here. We are gonna be back to American stories sometime in the near future, but just enjoy this series while it's here, because it took a lot of work to get here and we have loved covering these stories. Anyways, it's Colin here. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you on the next one.

This could mean pointing out queer creatives that worked on the film. Or applying a queer reading to some of your favorite horror movie characters. Episodes can be serious and academic. Or fun and frivolous. It depends on the movie.

And no movie is off limits. The film could have explicit queer themes. A high camp quotient. Or both.

We discuss these films to uncover the ultimate question. Why horror? We go extremely deep with the films in discussion. For us to accomplish this, we break down each film, scene by scene, spoiling literally everything. You can find Night Light, a horror movie podcast every Friday on your favorite podcast service.

And remember, everybody, don't forget your night light.

God, preserve my sanity, for to this I am reduced. Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past.

I am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle Dracula.

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