The FBI has opened an investigation after a 25-year-old North Carolina woman was found dead while on vacation in Mexico
By Hannah Sarisohn and Jamiel Lynch, CNN
The family of a North Carolina woman found dead last month in a vacation rental property in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is still looking for answers more than two weeks after her death.
Shanquella Robinson, 25, traveled to Mexico on a vacation with her college friends from Winston-Salem State University, her father Bernard Robinson told CNN Thursday.
According to the elder Robinson, his daughter last spoke to her mother, Salamondra, on the phone on the morning of Friday, October 28. Shanquella Robinson was found dead at her vacation rental the following day, US and Mexican authorities said.
A copy of her death certificate, obtained by CNN affiliate WBTV, lists the cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” which is instability or excessive movement in the uppermost neck vertebrae. The document states she was found unconscious in the living room of the rental residence on October 29.
The death certificate classified Robinson’s death as “accidental or violent,” noting that the approximate time between injury and death was 15 minutes.
Video posted online appears to show a physical altercation inside a room between Shanquella Robinson and another person. It’s not clear when the video was taken or if the video depicts the moment she suffered the fatal injury.
Bernard Robinson confirmed to CNN it is his daughter seen in the video being thrown to the floor and beaten on the head.
It’s unclear what led to the altercation or how many people were in the room at the time. It’s also unclear if anyone tried to intervene.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office confirmed to CNN in an email Friday that they have opened an investigation into Robinson’s death. No charges have been announced and authorities have not released the names of Robinson’s friends.
Bernard Robinson said Thursday that his family is waiting for additional information from his daughter’s friends and Mexican authorities.
“You took my only jewel from me,” he told CNN by phone Thursday. “You put a big hole in my heart. The only thing I can do is fight for her; I cannot let her die in vain.”
In a statement obtained by CNN, the State Attorney General’s Office (PGJE) of Baja California Sur said investigation into Robinson’s death is ongoing, though the statement does not reference her by name.
The-CNN-Wire
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