A week shy of a month, questions are swirling around the death of a Charlotte woman, who was found dead inside a Mexican villa while traveling with friends. Information is trickling in from friends, families, and law enforcement authorities searching for justice, helping officials get closer to determining exactly what happened to Shanquella Robinson in Mexico.

Shanquella Robinson Update – FBI field office in Charlotte will launch investigation into her death. (Credit: Shanquella Robinson Instagram)

FBI Launches Investigation

The suspicion is rooted in the initial declaration she died from alcohol poisoning while the Mexican autopsy states she died of a spinal cord injury and damage to her neck vertebrae.

Robinson’s autopsy and death certificate assessed she died within 15 minutes of being injured, and in a box that asked if the death was “accidental or violent” the answer “yes” was checked off.

The State Attorney General’s Office of Baja California Sur publicly confirmed the findings of the autopsy and based on other evidence announced on Thursday, Nov. 17, they will investigate her death as murder. Authorities returned to the location of her death and are collecting “more evidence to achieve the accurate clarification of the events, without ruling out any hypothesis.”

The FBI Charlotte Division is currently in contact with the Robinson family and working across agencies to investigate what seems to be a murder, WSOC-TV reports.

A spokesperson for the FBI Charlotte also revealed in a written statement, “The FBI Charlotte Field Office has opened an investigation in the death of Charlotte resident, Shanquella Robinson in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on or about October 29, 2022.”

Shanquella Robinson’s Mother and Father Want Answers

Robinson’s parents are working to figure out the truth, piecing together bits of the story and working with the FBI for justice.

“It’s like a nightmare. I can’t even sleep,” Robinson’s father, Bernard Robinson, told WSOC-TV. “I just want some truth because this doesn’t add up right.”

Salamondra, Robinson’s mother added to Queen City News, “I probably won’t be at ease until someone’s arrested.”

On Friday, Oct. 28, Shanquella Robinson left Charlotte, NC, for a friend’s birthday celebration at the Fundadores Beach Club in San José del Cabo in Mexico. The trip was supposed to be a long weekend, but within 24 hours of her arriving in the resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, the 25-year-old was discovered dead.

Official government documents, dated Nov. 4, note the young woman was found unconscious in the living room of a residence on Padre Kino Avenue in San Jose del Cabo on Saturday afternoon.

Shanquella’s Death Certificate

Salamondra was notified by people on the trip on Saturday, Oct. 29, saying her daughter was unconscious and suffering from alcohol poisoning. However, a death certificate produced by the Mexican government listed the cause of death as severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation, the dislocation of the spine in the neck.

The mom recalled the initial phone call, saying, “Each one of the people that was there with her was telling different stories,” questioning why the six people staying in the villa waited to call her “until the very last minute.”

Shanquella Robinson’s death certificate (Twitter/ Gossip in the City Tea)

The general manager of the Fundadores Beach Club, Karla Ponce, said in a statement “the group of vacationers related to the case never visited this beach club facilities during their stay,” suggesting the group was partying in their villa.

She added, “We deeply regret this unfortunate situation and trust it will come to the right closure.”

The villa mates also returned back to the United States, leaving their friend with Mexican authorities. Eventually, the family paid $6,000 to have Robinson’s remains shipped back home two weeks later, arriving on Thursday, Nov. 10.

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, a video surfaced on social media showing one of the female villa mates attacking Robinson. Little has been publicly released about the video, other than Robinson’s mother confirming the people in the footage all went on the trip and that she believes it was taken during the trip.

The naked woman in the video, believed to be Robinson, is being savagely beaten. One male voice is heard saying to Robinson, “Quella, can you at least fight back.” Another voice, which appears to be female, can be heard snapping back, “No.”

Alleged Male Friend Posts Video on Instagram

An Instagram Live of a male alleging he attended the trip is circulating the internet. The man absolves himself of any wrongdoing in Shanquella’s death, claiming he was being harassed in his direct messages and also doxed, with people posting his personal address online.

“They told me that Quella was sick and she was showing signs of alcohol poisoning,” he said. “But I didn’t know it was a fight.”

He claimed to have arrived at the villa around 3:26 p.m. and immediately went to be with his friend, never leaving until a nurse arrived. He also references a video where he tells her to get up so they can continue to have fun.

“Quella was laying on the couch in the game room,” he recalled. “I’m sitting right next to her the whole time. They were talking about cooking and so we made it to the living room. I cut on some soft music. Sitting with her rubbing her head … just chilling and waiting until the nurse came.”

He also asserts Robinson was not found dead, that “the maid found her slumped over the toilet in her room,” and that authorities are not telling the truth.