By Ny MaGee | EUR
*Federal authorities in North Carolina will not pursue federal charges in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old woman found dead in Mexico during a trip with friends in October.
We reported previously that Robinson was allegedly beaten to death by a “friend” in a Mexican villa on Oct. 28. The “friends” told Robinson’s mother that her daughter’s cause of death was alcohol poisoning. But the victim’s family was reportedly told a different story by Mexican authorities and the FBI.
A disturbing video surfaced allegedly showing Daejhanae Jackson attacking Robinson in a bedroom while she is naked. A man who appears to be filming the assault is heard asking Shanquella, “Quella’ can you at least fight back?” Robinson attempts to get away but she is slammed to the floor and punched in the head repeatedly.
Mexican authorities launched a homicide investigation but on Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s offices in the Western District of North Carolina announced that they “concluded that federal charges cannot be pursued.”
“As in every case under consideration for federal prosecution, the government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a federal crime was committed,” authorities 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.”
According to Robinson’s family attorneys, the autopsies conducted in Mexico and the U.S. differed.
“These discrepancies can be credited to the delay in investigation by U.S. officials, who conducted a second autopsy once Shanquella’s body was embalmed,” the attorneys, Ben Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson said in a statement. “When an investigation is delayed, the hard evidence to support prosecution diminishes, but in this case, that is due to the U.S. not considering this case to be a high priority.”
Several of the victim’s friends, as well as community activists, had reportedly sent letters to Mexican authorities and President Biden urging them to do more to expedite the case, WBBC Charlotte reports. Accordign to NBC News, a fundraiser for the victim’s family raised more than $363,000.
