Pod Insights Crime Junkie MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Shanquella Robinson About this episode A luxury vacation to Mexico with college friends ended in tragedy when Shanquella Robinson died of what her friends said was alcohol poisoning. But Shanquella’s family always believed there was more to the story, especially when a video surfaced of her being brutally beaten just hours before she died. That video and a pair of autopsies coming to two different conclusions has shrouded Shanquella’s death in mystery. Years later, there are still so many questions. What exactly killed Shanquella and who, if anyone, is responsible?
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
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3:53 Ashley Flowers? Hi, Crime Junkies, I'm your host, Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. You guys, I think there is this low-level hum of anxiety that almost all mothers live with. Like, and it truly, it never goes away. What you worry about will change over the years, though the consequences never seem less severe. Like, when they're little, there's this fear of them falling or choking on something tiny that got left on the floor. When they go off to school, you worry about them making friends or getting bullied. Like, my daughter is in preschool right now, and there is this one girl in her class who keeps saying that she is better than my daughter, and some days, Joe comes home, like, really put down. I want to go full mama bear, I'm trying to keep my cool, it's not really working. But I know when she grows up, I'm gonna worry about her getting her heartbroken.
4:38 Ashley Flowers? When I'm not driving her everywhere, I'm gonna wonder where she is, who she's with, if she's safe. And God help me when one day she wants to take a trip out of the country. The regular human in me will be excited for her. I know how much I like itch for those experiences, like stuff like that when I was young, and I want her to have all of that. But I'm also a crime junkie mom. And that means in the back of my head, I am picturing the worst case scenario. Something terrible happening to my daughter, but in a place a zillion miles away, where I can't get to her. A place where the rules and laws are totally foreign to me. I don't speak the language and I have no connections or resources. I can prepare for almost any scenario, but in that one, I would feel
5:18 Ashley Flowers? like my hands are tied. And that is the nightmare scenario that one mother found herself in beginning in October of 2022. When her 25-year-old daughter went on a last-minute trip to Mexico with a group of kids from her college. One minute, her daughter is calling her, telling her she's having this amazing time, like, phew, sigh of relief, she's happy, she's safe. But then, 24 hours later, she's being told that her daughter is dead. The story she hears is that she got too drunk, died of alcohol poisoning. But that was not the full story, far from it. And over the next few weeks, an anonymous call, a leaked video, and conflicting ME reports call everything into question. The people who know what happened
6:03 Ashley Flowers? that day are the ones who were there on that trip. But they have never spoken out. That is, until now. Literally, right as we were about to record this episode, someone who was on the trip got back to us. And in his first-ever media interview, he told us some things that have never been reported before. And what he said might give us an answer to what I think so many people have been asking. Not just what happened, but why. This is the story of Shanquella Robinson.
7:09 Ashley Flowers? Salamandra Robinson spoke to her daughter Shanquella that first night after she arrived in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. According to ABC News, she said everything seemed fine. Her daughter and the group that she was with were having this fun night at the villa. They had a private chef, a pool. I mean, like, what more could you want? Shanquella sounded so happy. So mom probably went to bed that night a little lighter, knowing that her daughter was okay. But that would be the last night of good sleep that she got for a long time. Because the very next day, October 29, 2022, Salamandra got a scary call. It was her daughter's best friend, Khalil Cook, and he's telling her that Shanquella drank way too much that first night, and now she's sick with alcohol poisoning.
7:53 Ashley Flowers? He says she's been, like, throwing up, she's dehydrated, she needs an IV. But Khalil tells Salamandra that they can't take her to the emergency room because they don't have the money for it.
8:03 Speaker 00 I'm sorry, get her to the hospital and figure the money stuff out later.
8:06 Ashley Flowers? Yeah, and it's not all or nothing, he says. Like, I guess there is a doctor that they have called who can at least, like, come to the villa.
8:12 Speaker 00 Okay.
8:13 Ashley Flowers? I don't know, I just think the emergency bill, at least the way they're saying it, like, sounds like it would be more expensive. So whatever, at least someone is coming.
8:19 Speaker 00 Right.
8:20 Ashley Flowers? And that's part of the reason why Khalil is calling, actually. He needs to get, like, all of Shanquella's information for the doctor. So Salamandra gives him her social security number and tells him everything else that he would need is in her purse. And she spends the rest of the afternoon just, like, worried, waiting to hear from her daughter herself. But as worried as she is, the way she's hearing it, I mean, it sounds like maybe it's just like a bad hangover. Like, it's a weekend getaway. It's a luxury villa with a group of college kids who, by the way, are down there for one of their birthdays. So like, they probably stayed up late at night, they were, like, drinking, partying. These things happen. She just needs to hear her daughter's voice, and she's gonna feel better. Around 6:00 PM that night, that call that she's been waiting for comes.
9:04 Ashley Flowers? But it isn't her daughter on the phone. It's Khalil again. And what he tells her leaves her in utter shock. Shanquella is dead. He says that emergency medics did all they could to save her, but she ended up dying from the alcohol poisoning. And it just doesn't make sense. Like, how does she go from bad hangover to dead? But there is nothing that Salamandra can do. She is thousands of miles away in North Carolina. She hasn't even heard from any kind of authority yet. And who's she supposed to call? I don't know how that call with Khalil ended, but I can only imagine the disorientation she felt when the line went dead. Now, what she didn't know at the time
9:49 Ashley Flowers? was that Mexican authorities had already begun interviewing the friends that she was with to try and piece together what happened. And what we know through FBI documents is that their stories seem to vary. Some of them tell authorities that Shanquella was drinking and hit her head on the toilet. Others say she fell in the pool that's attached to the villa.
10:09 Speaker 00 I mean, didn't Khalil say she died of alcohol poisoning?
10:13 Ashley Flowers? Yeah, that's what he told Salamandra. But I don't think they're saying like she hit her head and that's what caused her to die. I think they're still saying the same thing. I think the stories of her hitting her head are just them like painting a picture of how drunk she was.
10:24 Speaker 00 I mean, do they truly not realize what they're saying, though? Like, head injuries can give you a lot of the same symptoms as alcohol poisoning, like vomiting, disorientation.
10:34 Ashley Flowers? Listen, I don't know what they're thinking or what their intentions were with these statements, but I can tell you this for sure. They were not telling authorities the whole story. And all of this talk of a fall may have just been to cover up the truth of what happened. But someone couldn't live with the lie. Because within 24 hours, Salamandra gets another call. This one from an unknown number. And the person on the other end of the line, now, they don't identify themselves, but they say that Shanquella didn't die from alcohol poisoning. They tell her that there was a fight the morning Shanquella died. And then they hung up.
11:13 Speaker 00 And Salamandra didn't recognize the voice?
11:15 Ashley Flowers? No, but like, the family thinks it has to be one of the people who was on the trip. Or at the very least, someone that this Cabo group was in communication with. And this call, it sends Shanquella's family spiraling, and they have even more questions. So when Khalil is back in North Carolina-
11:33 Speaker 00 Wait, they got to leave?
11:35 Ashley Flowers? Oh yeah. The next day, the whole group booked a flight home early. But it's not like they're totally avoiding the family or anything, or at least some of them aren't. According to an advocate for the family that we spoke to, one of the first things Khalil does when he's back in North Carolina is visit Salamandra. Court docs say that he's with one of the women from the trip too, named Dejeané Jackson. She was actually the birthday girl that the trip was planned for. Now, when they go, the pair hands over Shanquella's luggage, they give their condolences, and they make sure that they keep insisting that Shanquella died from alcohol poisoning. Like, they're harping on it so much that it feels weird to the family.
12:14 Speaker 00 And does the family bring up the call?
12:16 Ashley Flowers? Oh yeah. Shanquella's sister Quilla Long confronts them about it. But Khalil and Dejeané are like, "We don't know what you're talking about. There was no fight." And listen, Khalil is like, one of her best friends, mind you, so the family doesn't know what to think. And he keeps coming back, four days in a row, sometimes alone, sometimes with other friends from the trip. And every time, they all continue to deny that any fight happened. In fact, Salamandra says that they cried with her, and they talked to her about funeral plans, and what they were gonna wear, and-
12:46 Speaker 00 Were the rest of them close with Shanquella?
12:48 Ashley Flowers? Well, we know that they all went to the same college, Winston-Salem State University. I know, obviously, that Shanquella was close with Khalil. But I also recently got confirmation that she knew the birthday girl, Dejeané. Apparently, the two of them had even been on trips together before, but I don't think they were super close, because Shanquella wasn't originally invited to Cabo. Court docs say that she was invited at the last minute after someone else dropped out. So it's not like the family has close ties to the other five like they do Khalil. Their word pretty much means nothing. But Khalil had gone on family trips with them, like, they do trust him.
13:22 Speaker 00 Yeah.
13:23 Ashley Flowers? So while they're suspicious at that point, they don't really have any choice but to kind of take everyone at their word. At least, until they get more info. On November 10th, this is now 12 days after Shanquella's death. The family gets a call from Mexican authorities that turns their world upside down. They say that Shanquella didn't die from alcohol poisoning. There's actually no mention of alcohol poisoning at all in her autopsy report. What they list as her manner of death makes no sense with any story that this group has been telling. And that's when it becomes clear to Salamandra that everyone has been lying to her. Guys, I'm doing a bit of a kitchen clean out.
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16:20 Ashley Flowers? Shanquella's manner of death is listed as violent, and the ME says Shanquella died from a severe spinal cord and neck injury. Now, the ME finds that her neck wasn't totally broken, but it was dislocated enough to be fatal. She also suffered brain swelling, and there was a huge knot on her forehead, bruises on her body. But the ME didn't note what they thought caused her injuries or anything. I mean, I have a guess. Salamandra does too. And listen, if anyone was still trying to say that a fight never happened, just give it another week, and you could call them a liar to their face.
16:59 Ashley Flowers? Because around November 15, someone, and we don't know who, shares a video of this fight that everyone is saying did not happen. And Britt, the video is awful. Most places online just have a still image or a quick clip, but this video is critical to this case, and that is why the family advocate asked us to put it out so people can see the truth of what happened to Shanquella. And in this video, you're gonna see Shanquella is completely nude. She's in what looks like a bedroom inside their villa, and Dejean is standing across from her in her pajamas by the sliding glass door. Now, it's clear
17:42 Ashley Flowers? that multiple other people are in this room. I mean, you obviously have the person taking the video, but you also catch a glimpse of another person's hand holding a phone in the corner of the screen. And one of the spectators eggs her on. I'm gonna play it now, and we'll have it up on our social media and on our website for those that want to see it themselves.
18:04 Speaker 03 Can we at least fight back?
18:07 Speaker 00 Oh my god.
18:09 Speaker 03 At least something.
18:11 Speaker 00 She's like beating the living crap out of her. Yeah, like, and like,
18:15 Speaker 00 it's just unrelenting.
18:18 Speaker 00 And Shanquella, like, isn't even able to even, like, fight back or do anything to try to get away.
18:26 Ashley Flowers? I know. Listen, like, blows don't sound the same as you expect them to without movie sound effects. So if you are just listening or like you're not like watching right now, you really do need to watch. But this video begins with Dejeanay just like lunging at Shanquella and landing blow after blow to her head. And at one point, she yanked Shanquella to the ground by her neck. And the whole time, like, you're saying she's not fighting back. Shanquella is like a rag doll.
18:50 Speaker 00 It feels like she can't fight back.
18:52 Ashley Flowers? Yeah, and she's like trying just to protect herself while someone casually tells her to
18:58 Speaker 03 At least fight back.
19:00 Speaker 00 And like, what comes before and after this video? Like, clearly, everyone is ready for this fight. They've got their phones out. They're set up like a studio audience. But, like you said, like, she's completely naked. How did she end up that way?
19:16 Ashley Flowers? Listen, the family has every single one of those questions and more. But that is the entirety of the video that was put on the internet. That is all they saw. And after this video leaks, every one of the group, known as the Cabo Six, goes radio silent on the family.
19:33 Speaker 00 Even Kelo?
19:34 Ashley Flowers? Even him. And so, in the absence of information, rumors start running wild online about what might have led to this fight and whether Shanquella might have been set up. But there's nothing to prove any of the rumors are true. So it's up to authorities to try and figure out what happened. Now, Mexican authorities kinda have their hands tied. The Cabo Six are back in the US. They can't bring them back unless the US basically hands them over.
20:02 Speaker 00 Okay, so hand them over for more questioning. What are we doing here?
20:06 Ashley Flowers? Well, I mean, I think the US authorities want to make sure everything's on the up and up before they just hand over citizens. So it's not like they're doing nothing. Like, the FBI in Charlotte steps in. They announce that they're investigating. While at the same time, authorities in Mexico keep questioning people and building their case to potentially lead to an extradition request. Because that hasn't, like, happened yet. And here's what we learn about Shanquella's final hours. According to FBI documents, the fight in that video happened at the villa between 7:00 and 7:30 that morning. And Shanquella apparently went to her room afterward.
20:41 Speaker 00 And do they have more video footage from other people's phones? Are they just getting this from statements?
20:46 Ashley Flowers? So they get the time, that like 7:00 to 7:30 window from talking to someone who worked there, who estimated the time based on where the sun was hitting, like the light was hitting in the room. How they know she went to her room after? It doesn't say how they know that. But after they say she goes to her room, there is this big gap of time where we don't know anything. We don't know what people were doing, what happened. The timeline really picks up just before noon, and that's when someone, some documents say it's friends, some say it's the housekeeper at the villa, but someone finds Shanquella on the bathroom floor in the villa, barely conscious. But even though that happens just before noon, a doctor wasn't called until around 2:00
21:30 Ashley Flowers? PM, about the same time Khalil made that call to Shanquella's mom. The doctor doesn't show up until about an hour later, so call it 3:15. And by that point, Shanquella was on a couch in the living room. The doctor could immediately tell that she was in really bad shape. And the doctor told investigators that Shanquella was disheveled. She had a knot on the right side of her forehead, broken blood vessels in her right eye, and she could not get out any words, like she is only managing to make sounds. And the doctor told everyone there that Shanquella needed to get to a hospital, but they all refused.
22:07 Speaker 00 How can they refuse though? They aren't her guardian, she's an adult.
22:11 Ashley Flowers? But remember, she can't speak, so she can't advocate for herself. The only connection to her family is through her friends, and the doctor said that they all seemed reluctant to even call her family and let them know what was going on. And the doctor also said that her boss, the doctor's boss, told her that she had to get permission from the friends to take Shanquella to the hospital, like she wasn't allowed to make that call herself. And according to the doctor, they keep saying that Shanquella was just dehydrated, she needed an IV. So according to the records, the doctor told police she tried to get them to call for help for at least an hour. She even told them that there are hospitals that will take Shanquella, help Shanquella for free if money is the issue.
22:53 Ashley Flowers? Which is what they said to her mom, that the funding was the issue. Right. It was only once Shanquella had a seizure that someone finally called 911. Then Shanquella went into cardiopulmonary arrest and emergency medics arrived about five minutes later. The doctor and the emergency medics, they worked for an hour to stabilize her. They gave her 14 rounds of CPR, five doses of adrenaline, and they used a defibrillator on her six times. But despite all of those life-saving efforts, Shanquella was pronounced dead at the villa just before 6:00 PM. Though, it's worth noting that for some reason Shanquella's death certificate says that
23:35 Ashley Flowers? she died just 15 minutes after she was injured, which is a discrepancy I don't really understand considering we know that she died hours after the doctor's arrival. And listen, from what the doctor told police at the scene, Shanquella's friends were acting strange the whole time. She claimed that they would go off and like deliberate amongst themselves before giving her any answers to questions she was asking. And only one of them stayed to help. A concierge for the villa said something similar to Mexican authorities on November 17th. He told them that he rushed to the villa that night when he heard what had happened. And he said that the friends looked like pretty calm overall, except there was one woman who was visibly shaken and sad.
24:19 Ashley Flowers? I don't know who that was, but it wasn't Dejeanay because she's called out specifically by this person, saying that she came off a little bit cold and indifferent. But at no time does she or anyone in the group mention anything about this fight to police or anyone there. Though, at least one person there claims that he genuinely did not know about the fight.
24:45 Ashley Flowers? We actually talked to one of the men who was on that trip. We're gonna call him Mike because he doesn't want to be named. And this is a huge deal because no one from this trip has ever spoken to the media, anonymous or not. And according to Mike, he never even talked to police. So what I'm about to say may even be news to them. He told one of our reporters that he was the last to join the group in Mexico. So he says that he got to the villa Saturday afternoon. This is after they'd already called the doctor to look at Shanquella. And he says when he got there, like she was vomiting, she was disoriented. And he is the one who laid her on the couch and he is the one who stayed to help.
25:29 Ashley Flowers? And at the time, he had no idea, he says, about the fight. Like, none of the friends even told him. So he spent hours helping to take care of Shanquella, thinking that she really did just have alcohol poisoning, because that is what they are telling everyone. And he says that he found out about the fight with the rest of the world when the video came out. But he has more pieces to the puzzle that might fill in what led up to that fight. Mike says that Dejeanay actually called him at around 3 o'clock in the morning, the night before the, like, infamous fight video. She was crying. He said that everyone in the villa was drunk. And Shanquella and Dejeanay apparently had gotten into some kind of heated argument.
26:13 Ashley Flowers? And in the midst of this, a glass broke, which cut Dejeanay's foot. It was accidental, but it did not help the situation. So Mike says that Dejeanay was just beside herself and told him that she wanted Shanquella to leave, like, she doesn't even want her there for her birthday. Now, Mike says he managed to talk Dejeanay down and, like, let Shanquella stay. And that was the last that he heard about their spat. But he suspects that that was the beginning of whatever the fight was that took place four and a half hours later.
26:46 Speaker 00 Wait, so is Mike who called the family about the fight anonymously?
26:51 Ashley Flowers? No, he wasn't. Remember, the call happens before the video. He only learns about the fight through the video.
26:57 Speaker 00 Got it. Okay. So he couldn't have been that person?
26:59 Ashley Flowers? Right. And he said that he was one of the friends to visit when they got back from Mexico, like, visit the family. And he did tell them everything he told us, but he says, like, they were already suspicious that someone wasn't telling the full truth, and they didn't really want to hear anything from him.
27:15 Speaker 00 And did he tell the police?
27:17 Ashley Flowers? No, like I said, like, he hasn't wanted to talk to police at all. But if some other stuff that he told us is true, stuff that we couldn't verify enough to report, the answers police might be looking for, I think, would be on people's phones and in their call logs, which I'm assuming they collected. But even without that, Mexican authorities were still moving forward. By the end of November, this is now almost a month after Shanquella's death, the prosecutor in Mexico over this jurisdiction announces that they've issued an arrest warrant for who we know from court docs is Dejeanay. He says in a statement that the woman in the video was the, quote, "direct aggressor in the fight."
28:01 Ashley Flowers? And they want to extradite her back to Mexico.
28:04 Speaker 00 Are there any other charges for anyone else?
28:06 Ashley Flowers? No, they say that this case is being investigated as a femicide. And just so you know, in Mexico, femicide is when being a woman plays a part in why a person was killed, no matter the gender of the person who committed the murder.
28:20 Speaker 00 Okay.
28:20 Ashley Flowers? And when this happens, this is at least something to her family. The next logical step in the right direction. But no arrest is made. U.S. authorities aren't sending Dejeanay or anyone back to Mexico. And it's not like they can come get her. And at the same time, it's not like the FBI has said, "No." They're just saying, "Nothing." And I think that's because, at that point, their investigation hadn't concluded. So everyone's thinking, like, okay, you know what? They just need to wrap up, and then they'll comply, right? Well, weeks pass. Then months, and this warrant seems to not go anywhere.
29:03 Ashley Flowers? The family is even writing letters to the president at the time begging for him to intervene. And though the White House acknowledges that they're following the case, they don't do much to push it forward. It's in the hands of the FBI, sorry. And it turns out, there might be a reason the FBI hasn't made any arrests. There's something that the family has been in the dark on. Completely unbeknownst to them, the FBI had done a second autopsy. And their results were wildly different.
29:37 Ashley Flowers? Guys, I'm doing a bit of a kitchen clean out. I have been getting schooled lately on the effects of microplastics. So I am determined to eliminate as much plastic from my home as possible. And I am especially focused on the stuff that I cook with. So I turned to Wayfair, where I have been getting so many pieces for my home. And I just got all new wood and stainless steel cooking utensils that look beautiful, feel great. And I have already put them to use. And these things are a zillion times better than the gross plastic things that I had in the drawer for a decade. And I'm honestly ashamed that I kept them as long as I did. I also replaced any plastic storage containers I had with glass ones. And I did all of that for 250 bucks. Bougie on a budget.
30:19 Ashley Flowers? You can shop thousands of products across every style and every budget, whether you're simply replacing an appliance or transforming your home from top to bottom for the holiday season. Find pieces made for real life and get even more value with Wayfair Rewards. Join Wayfair Rewards today and get 5% back on every purchase. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W A Y F A I R dot com.
30:48 Ashley Flowers? I don't know if this is just a Midwest thing or a me thing, but I get a rush of excitement when I score an incredible bargain. And I am one of those people who feel compelled to tell anyone about it when given the chance. So like, I'm the person who immediately responds to a compliment like, "Thanks, I got it on sale." Or, "Thanks, got it on Whatnot." And if you haven't tried Whatnot, then you're missing out on some great deals to brag about. Whatnot is the number one live shopping app in the US, where shopping happens in real time with real people, real conversations, and incredible deals. You almost never pay full price. You can shop name brands across makeup, perfume, clothes, handbags, jewelry, and more. When I say "more," there is literally everything. I have gotten lost in the estate sale side of the app.
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32:55 Ashley Flowers? In April 2023, almost six months after Shanquella's death, the FBI and the US Attorney's Office announced that they won't be pursuing federal charges in Shanquella's death. They say the evidence in the case doesn't support prosecution, and they specifically mentioned a second autopsy, one that no one knew was being done. But according to the ME, in that second autopsy, Shanquella's neck and spine are fine. Like, her neck isn't dislocated at all. The report says that Shanquella had brain swelling, which was also listed in the first autopsy. But this report says it's clear Shanquella's brain lacked oxygen for several hours.
33:39 Ashley Flowers? And the second ME says in the report that Mexican authorities told him there was no alcohol in her system, which should feel shocking, right? Everyone's saying alcohol poisoning. But the second ME says that if she was drinking heavily, the 10 and 1/2 hours between that morning and the time when she actually died was enough for the alcohol to work its way through her system. And he says in the report that the knot on Shanquella's forehead is consistent with blunt force trauma, and that could have led to the brain swelling and the damage that killed her.
34:11 Speaker 00 But couldn't that very well be blunt force trauma from the fight?
34:16 Ashley Flowers? Maybe. And like, the ME acknowledges the fight and the video in his report, but he also says that he doesn't know if maybe Shanquella fell and like, hit her head in the bathroom.
34:26 Speaker 00 Is he saying that based on her injuries? Or is he just pulling that from like, the friend's statements?
34:32 Ashley Flowers? He doesn't specify. I think basically he's like, listen, she could have gotten a head injury from anywhere.
34:38 Speaker 00 There was a head injury, I can't tell you where it came from, so...
34:40 Ashley Flowers? Which is why her cause of death ends up getting ruled undetermined.
34:46 Speaker 00 I'm confused. Like, how could one autopsy find a dislocated neck to like a fatal point and another say her neck is totally fine? Like, it either is or is not dislocated to, again, a fatal level.
35:00 Ashley Flowers? I know. So, according to the North Carolina autopsy results, Mexican officials only did a partial autopsy?
35:07 Speaker 00 What's that?
35:08 Ashley Flowers? I, I too, was confused by what that meant. So I, we actually reached out to an expert and asked them to break it down. Dr. Joseph Filo, this forensic pathologist in Cleveland, says that a partial autopsy isn't very thorough and it doesn't require removing major organs like a full autopsy would. And Dr. Filo looked at both reports in the case and he says that the medical examiner in Mexico didn't even take out her spine. So he says heavy drinking can cause some of the brain swelling that both autopsies found. And that swelling wouldn't have been enough to kill Shanquella, but that along with head trauma and lack of oxygen could be deadly.
35:47 Speaker 00 So, the question is not if she suffered blunt force trauma, it's whether that blunt force trauma was caused by the fight or not.
35:56 Ashley Flowers? Exactly. Is it possible that the fight played a role in Shanquella's death? Yes. But there's no way to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt, according to Dr. Filo. So, he says the undetermined ruling makes sense. We also talked to Beth Green, who worked as a federal and district prosecutor in North Carolina for more than a decade. And Green says that prosecutors would have had a really hard time proving Shanquella died from this fight without a medical examiner ruling a homicide. And that's likely at least part of the reason why the FBI didn't pursue charges. Now, the family advocate told us that Shanquella's family was in tears when they heard that
36:38 Ashley Flowers? there would be no charges, like just completely gutted. And they felt totally blindsided by this. I mean, even blindsided with the differences between the two autopsies, like, because the family thinks that both show that Shanquella died a horrific death. Both of them show blunt force trauma. So... With no other options, in October 2024, Salamandra filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Cabo Six, the FBI, the State Department. And the suit alleges that Dejeané attacked Shanquella and ultimately caused her death. Then the whole group tried to cover it up.
37:14 Speaker 00 I mean, based on what Mike told us, I could see Salamandra being right, but...
37:19 Ashley Flowers? But he wasn't there for the piece of it. I know. Now, her lawsuit claims that the State Department didn't move forward with extraditing Dejeané to Mexico to face prosecution. And as for the FBI, the Robinsons claimed that they withheld records about Shanquella's case and basically shut the family out of the investigation. So that's everything that goes forward. In 2025, a federal judge dismisses part of the lawsuit, specifically the claims against the FBI and the State Department. But as of this recording, the rest of it is still pending.
37:49 Speaker 00 Did anyone respond to the lawsuit?
37:52 Ashley Flowers? I know that all of the Cabo Six gave some kind of response throughout 2025. They all denied every allegation against them in Salamandra's lawsuit. Khalil and two of the other women on the trip all claimed that they were just bystanders and weren't involved in the fight. And Dejeané Jackson, who has since changed her name to Amani Green, finally gave her version of events in her response just this past July. And this is big, because this is the first time anyone got to hear from her about any of this. She claims that she was acting in self-defense and that Shanquella was, quote, "belligerent" and provoked the fight.
38:32 Speaker 00 So she's at least admitting that there was a fight now.
38:36 Ashley Flowers? I mean, you can't deny it. Like, there's a video of it, yeah. But there are still so many questions, especially after we talked to Mike.
38:44 Speaker 00 Well, and in my opinion, self-defense is going to be hard to sell when we have, like you said, the video, where she's not even fighting back, and she's naked.
38:55 Ashley Flowers? Totally. And by the way, to me, her being naked in this video seems like a critical piece of the puzzle. Like, why wasn't she dressed like Dejeané was when this is happening? And we looked, and like, her family has said in the past that she usually slept in the nude. So they think that she had to have been sleeping, and Dejeané had to have woken her up to fight.
39:15 Speaker 00 Which is, like, even less convincing when you think about self-defense.
39:19 Ashley Flowers? Exactly.
39:20 Speaker 00 Clearly, other people were awake, like they're filming the fight. So what was everyone doing between the fight at 7:30 and Shanquella being found around noon?
39:31 Ashley Flowers? I know. That's not in any of the documentation. And we know, right? Mike's saying he wasn't there yet, so he couldn't fill in the gaps for us. But I do think that time is important. Did everyone watch this fight and go to bed? Did they go back to partying? To me, this goes back to who actually found her. Was it the friends or was it the hotel staff? Because those are two very different scenarios.
39:50 Speaker 00 Sure.
39:51 Ashley Flowers? So where we're at now, Shanquella's family is urging US authorities to give this case another look. They still want someone held accountable. This past October, three years since Shanquella's death, her family and supporters held a balloon release in Charlotte to honor her and to renew their call for justice. They had yellow and pink balloons, which were Shanquella's favorite colors. And they remember her as this vibrant, passionate entrepreneur with an infectious laugh. And the family says that she was a creative person who was passionate about the boutique that she owned and her hair braiding business. And she had this gentle demeanor that made the children she worked with really love her. Salamandra said at a press conference
40:35 Ashley Flowers? that the family can't rest until someone is held accountable for her daughter's death. She said, quote, "Shanquella had a family that loved her, and she was an amazing child. She loved people. She did no wrong to no one. She needed justice. She can't rest either," end quote. So if you have any information about what happened to Shanquella, you can reach out to the Charlotte FBI at 704-672-6100.
41:18 Ashley Flowers? You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkie.com.
41:22 Speaker 00 And you can follow us on Instagram at @crimejunkiepodcast.
41:45 Ashley Flowers? Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. I think Chuck would approve.
41:53 Speaker 04 When the nights grow longer, the shadows start to stir, and that can only mean one thing. Full Body Chills is back. This season, step inside original tales where every doorway leads somewhere darker, every stranger carries a secret, and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Each story takes you somewhere new, but be careful. You never know what might follow you home. So gather round, listen close, and stream Full Body Chills wherever you get your podcasts.
Previous MISSING: Bonnie Lee Schultz Part 2 Next MISSING: Marilyn “Niqui” McCown Page updated October 31, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated