Prosecutors in Mexico have issued an arrest warrant for a female friend of the 25-year-old American woman who was discovered dead in the country last month. According to the Associated Press, they are also working to have the friend extradited to Mexico to face charges.
Shanquella Robinson, of Charlotte, South Carolina, traveled to San José del Cabo, Mexico, with six friends on Oct. 28 and died a day later, on Oct. 29, in a villa rented by the group.
According to CNN, Mexican prosecutors said Thursday that Robinson’s death was the result of a “direct attack, not an accident,” and that one of her female friends was involved in her death. They did not name the alleged aggressor, but she is an American citizen who is believed to be in the country.
The attorney general of Mexico’s Baja California Sur, Daniel de la Rosa, told local reporters that they are seeking an extradition order for the woman linked to Robinson’s death.
According to De la Rosa, the death was caused by direct aggression from the friend who allegedly carried out the attack, rather than a fight.
De la Rosa confirmed that both the victim and the friend are citizens of the United States.
According to The Associated Press, the group Robinson was traveling with all left Mexico after her death.
The new information contradicts how Robinson’s friends initially described the woman’s death to her family.
“She wasn’t feeling well, they said. “She had alcohol poisoning,” Robinson’s mother, Salamondra Robinson, told Charlotte’s Queen City News. “They were unable to obtain a pulse. Everyone who was there with her was telling her a different story.”
The death certificate, which stated Robinson suffered severe spinal cord injury and neck trauma and died within 15 minutes of the injury, also calls her friends’ account into question.
A graphic cellphone video circulating on social media purports to show Robinson being violently attacked by another group member.
Bernard Robinson, Robinson’s father, confirmed to CNN that the person being attacked in the video is his daughter.
The FBI’s Charlotte field office has also opened an investigation into Robinson’s death.
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