Feds say evidence in Shanquella Robinson case doesn’t support federal prosecution
The U.S. attorney’s Office said Wednesday they don’t have enough evidence available to prosecute anyone in the Shanquella Robinson case.
Robinson was killed while on vacation in Mexico last year. Attorneys for her family address the public on Wednesday afternoon.
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Federal authorities met with Robinson’s family Wednesday to offer condolences and present their findings. The family had previously called on the state department and White House to intervene and planned to rally on May 19 in Washington, D.C. if that didn’t happen.
Attorneys, family ask for federal help again in Shanquella Robinson case
Robinson was killed nearly six months ago in Cabo. The people she traveled to Mexico with said Robinson died of alcohol poisoning. However, an autopsy revealed that it was “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation.”
Mexican authorities filed an arrest warrant but there have been no arrests.
The FBI and prosecutors have made the case a priority, and have conducted a detailed investigation into the available evidence, they said. The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office also conducted an autopsy.
Shanquella Robinson’s family arrives at the FBI’s Charlotte office on April 12, 2023.
“As in every case under consideration for federal prosecution, the government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a federal crime was committed,” federal prosecutors said in a news release. “Based on the results of the autopsy and after a careful deliberation and review of the investigative materials by both U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal prosecutors informed Ms. Robinson’s family today that the available evidence does not support a federal prosecution.”
9 FOCUS STORIES: Death of Shanquella Robinson
Prosecutors said they don’t normally share statements in cases like this but are doing so because of how public the case is.
“It is important to reassure the public that experienced federal agents and seasoned prosecutors extensively reviewed the available evidence and have concluded that federal charges cannot be pursued,” the release concludes.
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It is not clear yet how the decision affects the arrest warrant that was issued by Mexican authorities.
‘Disappointed but not deterred’
Civil rights attorney Sue-Ann Robinson began the press conference Wednesday afternoon by saying, “We are disappointed but not deterred.”
“There’s no reason why a Black woman should go on vacation with her friends, be returned to her family in a box, and nothing be done for five months,” she said.
She mentioned the cases of Ahmaud Arbery, Sandra Bland, and George Floyd, saying “Back and brown people always have to carve their own path to justice.”
“The U.S. authorities have to understand and have to know that, even if we’re them — it’s not about Shanquella — that United States citizens cannot go to Mexico, commit a crime that we all saw on a video, and then come back to America and say we’re on base. We’re safe. We’re not going to be charged with a crime,” Robinson said. “That cannot be the message that the U.S. authorities want to send.”
Robinson said there was no urgency from U.S. authorities on the case, and said there are discrepancies in Mexico’s autopsy results and Mecklenburg County’s. She said federal authorities will release the results of their autopsy at a later date, but they told her Shanquella didn’t have a spinal cord injury.
“The Mexican autopsy says there’s a spinal cord injury, but according to them, there is no spinal cord injury,” Sue-Ann Robinson said.
The U.S. autopsy, which was conducted after Shanquella’s body was embalmed, did find brain swelling, she said.
She also questioned why federal authorities decided not to prosecute when Shanquella’s cause of death was still undetermined.
“How are you closing an investigation on a case where the cause of death is undetermined?” she asked.
She said the undetermined cause of death could have come from the autopsy being delayed.
Robinson said civil action can still be taken in the case.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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