CHARLOTTE, N.C. — People made their way to our nation's capital on Friday in support of Shanquella Robinson.
Friday morning, Robinson's family, as well as activists and supporters, stood outside of Ben Crump's Law office in Washington, D.C., and demanded a “high level of diplomatic intervention” by the United States.
"The Mexican authorities have confirmed they have completed their investigation, we have gotten a chance to review some of these packets and it has been sent... and the ball is clearly on the United States' court," Sue-Ann Robinson, the attorney for the Robinson family, said.
Robinson died in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico during a trip with a group of six friends on Oct. 29, 2022. Her family said the friends claimed it was because of alcohol poisoning.
Mexican authorities have made it clear that this was not an accident but a direct attack on Robinson.
Despite various accounts of what happened to Robinson, a death certificate found she died 15 minutes after suffering a broken neck and severe spinal cord injury.
Mexican authorities said in November 2022 they had an arrest warrant for an unnamed woman who was on the trip with Robinson, charging the woman with femicide. That development was shared after a disturbing video circulated online.
Robinson's own father confirmed it showed her being beaten, likely sometime during the trip.
"There was no fight that took place in that house," well-known activist, Tamika Mallory, said. "There was an attack on one person."
Her family and friends are now calling for justice in Washington, lobbying lawmakers on her behalf.
"It's not a hard ask, either extradite the killer or take jurisdiction so you can prosecute the killer. It’s simple," Attorney Ben Crump said. "We are asking for a 'high level of diplomatic intervention' from the president of the United States and the for the Department of Justice to do what is necessary to bring the person and people who are responsible for her murder to justice."
The family’s attorney, Sue Ann Robinson traveled to Mexico herself and is calling out the unfair treatment Black women receive in these cases.
"Going to the police station, going to the general attorney’s office, going to the Mexican Red Cross, going to the doctor’s office and going to the actual villa where she had spent her last moment," Robinson said. "Trying to find answers for this family was actually unreal, nobody should have to do that for something that is equal and fair."
"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," Mallory said. "Let me tell you how we know what you can do because we have 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 Robinson."
The ball is in the U.S. government's court, they said, as the Robinsons wait for justice.
"No one has been arrested and the people who knew what happened to my daughter are living their lives, they have returned to work and my family is left to wait and to beg for answers," Shanquella's mother Salamondra Robinson said.
They say it's important to keep her name in the public conversation as they continue to fight to bring the person(s) responsible for Shanquella's death to justice.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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