CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An arrest warrant has been issued in the death of Shanquella Robinson, a Charlotte woman killed while vacationing in Mexico, according to a Mexican prosecutor and confirmed by ABC News.
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Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, a prosecutor for the state of Baja California Sur, told ABC a friend of Robinson’s “who is the direct aggressor” is being sought by international authorities on charges of femicide.
“This case is fully clarified, we even have a court order, there is an arrest warrant issued for the crime of femicide to the detriment of the victim and against an alleged perpetrator, a friend of her who is the direct aggressor,” de la Rosa Anaya told ABC News. “Actually it wasn’t a quarrel, but instead a direct aggression.”
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“We are carrying out all the pertinent procedures such as the Interpol alert and the request for extradition to the United States of America. It’s about two Americans, the victim and the culprit.”
Authorities have not identified who they are working to arrest at this time.
Michael Lettieri, an expert on femicide in Mexico, said when a woman is killed in the country, authorities are often required to open the investigation as a femicide. From there, they look into whether she was killed for reasons due to her gender or if there were specific circumstances, such as domestic violence.
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ABC News told Robinson’s mom on Wednesday evening that an arrest warrant had been issued in the case.
“I feel so good, that’s a good feeling,” Sallamondra Robinson said. “That’s what we have been waiting for, for someone to finally be held accountable and arrested. I just can’t wait for justice to be served.”
Her parents said Robinson, 25, left for Cabo San Lucas with several friends on Oct. 28. A day later, she was dead, said the state attorney general in Mexico investigating the case.
At first, friends told Robinson’s family she died of alcohol poisoning, but the autopsy showed she died of a broken neck and spine.
Channel 9 obtained Robinson’s death certificate. It lists the cause of death as “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” and says she died within 15 minutes of injury. Alcohol poisoning is never mentioned.
In the box asking whether the death was accidental or violent, the medical examiner wrote “yes.”
After her death, video surfaced showing a woman attacking Shanquella Robinson. Sallamondra Robinson, previously identified the people in the video as the friends her daughter accompanied on the trip to Cabo.
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While the original source of the video is unclear, Sallamondra Robinson believes it was taken during the Cabo trip. In the video, a person can be heard asking if Shanquella Robinson “could at least fight back.”
The U.S. State Department and FBI have also been involved in investigating the case.
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Robinson’s death has drawn national attention. A GoFundMe for her family has raised more than $370,000 including contributions from several celebrities.
This is a developing story. Check wsoctv.com for updates.