CHARLOTTE — A federal judge will decide if a lawsuit over Shanquella Robinson’s death should be dismissed. In 2022, Shanquella Robinson died in Mexico, and the circumstances surrounding it have been mysterious and contested. Robinson traveled to Cabo with 6 people whom she considered friends.
Her family says her travelmates told them that Shanquella died of alcohol poisoning. An autopsy in Mexico found that she died of neck and spinal cord injuries. A video also surfaced of Shanquella being attacked by one of the girls on the trip.
A separate autopsy conducted by the Mecklenburg medical examiner found her cause of death to be undetermined. The FBI said they did not have enough evidence for criminal charges.
The Robinson family is suing the FBI, the Department of State, and six travel mates. On Wednesday, Judge Max Cogburn heard arguments on whether the case should be dismissed. Judge Cogburn seemed very familiar with the case during the nearly hour-long proceedings.
“A United States citizen should not be allowed to go overseas, harm another, or be involved in harm with another United States citizen and come back to the United States and essentially say that they’re on base,” Robinson family attorney Sue-Ann Robinson, who is not related to Shanquella, said after the hearing.
Attorneys for four of the travel mates, Wenter Donovan, Alyse Hyatt, Khalil Cooke, and Malik Dyer, argued their clients shouldn’t be named in the lawsuit since it was another travel mate who was seen in this video attacking Robinson. Their main claim is that the case should be heard in Mexico instead of the United States, since that is where Robinson died and where many of the people live who would be called to testify.
Robinson says that wouldn’t be appropriate because the main players are US citizens.
“It would be burdensome for cost, burdensome for travel, and burdensome just because the Mexican civil litigation system is completely different,” she said.
Judge Max Cogburn appeared sympathetic to the Robinson family’s situation. He pointed out to attorneys that the travel mates all left Mexico before the investigation was finished.
As family members await the judge’s decision, Shanquella’s father, Bernard, vowed to keep pressing for justice.
“I’m going to stand on my faith that I know there is a God above who is sitting down and watching everything everybody is doing,” he said.
The woman seen in the video attacking Shanquella is named in the lawsuit. She did not have an attorney present on Wednesday. She has changed her name and moved to Connecticut. She has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
A judge will make a ruling in the coming weeks.
The Robinson family alleged the FBI and State Department did not conduct a proper investigation. The attorney for the FBI disputed that. The Robinson family also called into question redactions made by the FBI in response to their FOIA request. The FBI said the FOIA request is being fulfilled as fast as possible, and the redactions were necessary to comply with privacy laws.
VIDEO: FBI files shed some light on Shanquella Robinson investigation
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