The family of a 25-year-old North Carolina woman, Shanquella Robinson, is looking for answers after Robinson died while on vacation in Mexico.
Her parents say she went to Cabo with a group of friends on Oct.28, but she never returned home.
“[I] spoke with her Friday evening. She was having dinner and I never spoke with her again,” her mother Salamondra Robinson told reporters. “On Saturday evening, [her friends] called and said she wasn’t feeling well, and they were going to call a doctor. And when they called, the doctor hadn’t arrived yet, but they said she had alcohol poisoning.”
The parents were skeptical that their daughter died of alcohol poisoning, and a recent video helps support their concerns.
Recently, footage emerged that purports to capture Robinson being brutally beaten by another woman in a bedroom. After Robinson fell to the ground, the woman pounded her fists on Robinson’s head, while someone in the background is encouraging Robinson to fight her assailant.
A death certificate lists the cause of death as a severe spinal cord injury. It did not reference any signs of intoxication, contrary to the statements of those who spoke to Robinson’s mom.
As per Salamondra, the other attendees of the trip “didn’t call us until the very last minute, and then on top of that, they said the maid found her.” Her suspicions were also raised when they reportedly gave her conflicting accounts of what happened.
The U.S. State Department is aware of the incident and previously told news outlets that Mexican authorities found no clear evidence that Robinson was murdered.
News of the suspicious death–and lack of arrests– was shared widely on social media, leading to the hashtag #justiceeforshanquella on Twitter, which raised the profile of the case.
The family is continuing to seek closure and clarity. “She had a heart of gold, she loved everybody,” her mom told Queen City News, which broke the story. “I probably won’t be at ease until someone’s arrested.”