FBI probing suspicious death of Shanquella Robinson at Mexican resort

The FBI has launched an investigation into the suspicious death of American woman Shanquella Robinson, who died under suspicious circumstances last month while on vacation with her friends at a Mexican resort. 

The agency’s field office in Charlotte, N.C., confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into Robinson’s death “on or about October 29,” but declined to provide additional details.

Robinson, 25, died last month after traveling to Mexico with six of her friends for vacation. 

Some of her friends initially told Robinson’s mother that her daughter died from alcohol poisoning, according to Charlotte’s ABC affiliate WSOC-TV. However, a death certificate local authorities issued in Robinson’s case lists the cause of death as severe spinal cord injury.

Video also circulated online showing Robinson being assaulted by another woman at the resort while another person in the room was recording the fight. 

Local authorities in Mexico have reportedly launched a homicide investigation into Robinson’s case.

In a statement to The New York Times, the State Department said it will provide consular resources to Robinson’s family.

According to ABC News, the state attorney general office in Baja California Sur received a call on October 29th from a “public security member” reporting the death of a foreign woman inside a room at the Fundadores Beach Club area in San Jose del Cabo. 

Mexican authorities told the media outlet that investigators were sent to the scene to collect “more evidence to achieve the accurate clarification of the events, without ruling out any hypothesis.” 

The death certificate stated that Robinson was found unconscious in a living room at the residence and died 15 minutes after she sustained her injuries, WSOC-TV noted. Robinson’s death certificate did not mention alcohol poisoning. 

However, the Charlotte Observer obtained a police report that says a doctor was called to the vacation home to treat Robinson, who was apparently inebriated and unable to communicate, although her vital signs were initially stable.

The report says friends resisted the doctor’s suggestion she be taken to a hospital. The doctor was unable to detect a pulse after Robinson had seizures, and although paramedics arrived and administered adrenaline and discharges from a defibrillator, she died about four hours after the doctor arrived, according to the police report.

Robinson’s father, Bernard Robinson, told the Times that he was shocked that authorities let his daughter’s friends return back to the U.S., saying he’ll continue to fight for answers to his daughter’s death. 

Robinson’s funeral was held on Saturday. 

“I can’t talk for her, but I am going to be her voice,” Robinson’s father said. “I’m going to be her voice to the end because I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”