Shanquella Robinson’s sister, Tequila Long, revealed that friends lied to her family about details surrounding Shanquella’s death from the start.
According to Essence, the last time Tequila Long was with her sister, Shanquella Robinson, was when the 25-year-old visited her home on October 27, 2022. Shanquella was leaving for a group trip to San Jose Del Cabo the next day.
“She actually came here to borrow a piece of luggage of mine to take on the trip,” Long shared with Essence.
“I thought she was going with the people she always traveled with, so it wasn’t any reason for me to have any ill feelings towards her going out of town. I just tell her to be safe.”
A few days later, Long learned that Shanquella had passed away on the trip.
There were conflicting accounts, Tequila Long heard that there had been a fight, but she trusted a male friend’s account, revealing that Shanquella died of alcohol poisoning.
“I was more believing the dude that she went on the trip with because that was her best friend. So I didn’t think that he would be malicious about anything. I didn’t think that he would tell us a lie. I trusted him. So I took his word for it more than anything, and he said it was alcohol poisoning.”
Ultimately, three of Shanquella’s friends came to her residence in Charlotte, N.C. The sisters’ mom, Salamondra Robinson, was also there.
“They came to meet my mother to talk about the incident that happened in Cabo. The two young ladies, and the male, told us that there wasn’t any type of fighting going on,” Long recounted.
“That they believed what the medic told him, that it was alcohol poisoning. We asked him about the fight because we was hearing from other people that they was out there fighting her. They had jumped on her out there. So they all was giving us a story, a lie until the video surfaced.”
As previously reported, early last month, a video went viral reportedly showing footage of Shanquella being repeatedly punched by one of the women she considered her friend while on their Cabo vacation. In the background, someone says, “Quella, can you at least fight back?”
The family had not seen the video when the three friends visited her Charlotte residence.
The ‘friends’ conflicting accounts have been compounded by vague reports from authorities. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that there was no clear evidence of foul play. However, an autopsy released to various news outlets shows that Shanquella died of a “severe spinal cord injury” and doesn’t mention alcohol poisoning.
In a section addressing if the death was “accidental or violent,” someone answered “yes.” Therefore, it is not clear what authorities meant to select.
“I was livid,” Long said when asked about her reaction after seeing the video.
“I was extremely upset. When I saw the video, I automatically yelled. At that moment, I was wishing I was there. I played that video over and over again. They had to wake her up out of her sleep because she sleeps naked. And she was naked standing there, and here she is, fighting this girl. And my sister’s like 5’1? 100 pounds. That image of her didn’t sit well with me.”
Baja California Sur’s prosecutor’s office has since announced that an arrest warrant has been issued for “femicide.” A rep for the office, who wasn’t authorized to discuss any lengthy details, informed Essence that femicide involves a killing where there is a relationship between the individuals, including friends or spouses.
Per statements released by the state prosecutor’s office on Facebook last Thursday, the next steps are for national authorities – Mexico’s Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs – to handle the extradition process, which involves the U.S. delivering a suspect to the Mexican authorities. Meanwhile, the state government of Baja California Sur will continue with its investigation into the matter.
As Robinson informed Essence, “we’ve been working to make sure that adequate pressure is put on authorities so that a proper investigation is done in this case because obviously, people that are involved are concealing aspects of the case.”
“A lot of times, people’s first foray into our [legal] system is when they’re a victim of a violent crime, or family members are a victim of violent crime, and they don’t know what to do. Fortunately, or unfortunately, as a criminal defense attorney, I know the terrain very well. And I try to just guide the family on what to expect, what to do,” she continued.
There might also be some racial implications in the case. To which Robinson said, “We’re aware that the only way to get these cases to move and to get the system to work is that we have to march, we have to rally, we have to cause the conversation to be had so cases can be amplified and there can be transparency in the process.”
Tequila Long says she will miss “the little things” about Shanquella. “Conversations, text messages, how we respond to each other when she calls. That’s what I’m missing now.”
Shanquella, Long shared, was “Outgoing. Well-spoken.” She was ambitious, intelligent, business-driven, lovable, respectable, and beautiful inside and out.
Tequila Long hopes everyone on the trip is “shipped back to Mexico. I want to see them over there doing time, away from their family, trying to learn Spanish. That’s where I want them at.”
The 25-year-old was laid to rest on November 19 in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Hundreds lined the streets to send her off.
