It’s grown noticeably quiet after the collective outrage but, back in November, the death of Shanquella Robinson had anyone with an internet connection in a chokehold of shock, sympathy and an intense need for justice. When the viral video of a clothes-less woman being beaten upon by another woman in a hotel room made its rounds on the internet, people were shocked, they immediately empathized but in the same breath, they wanted to know more. They wanted to know who was recording the video, who was beating her up, why the woman was nude, exactly why she was being beaten up and why no one helped her. The virality of the video resulted in the woman being beaten being identified as Shanquella Brenda Robinson who passed away in Mexico where she was on a trip with those in the room – even the one recording and the woman beating her up. Some time has passed and, despite the echoed silence on the matter in terms of new information, this is what we know so far regarding her death since we last wrote on this unfortunate topic.
When the news broke, which was assisted in reaching the public via the viral video, information about the most asked questions started making its way across several publications. What was pieced together were stories about the hotel scene and Shanquella’s death. Early reports stated that when medical professionals entered the villa on October 29th, Shanquella died 15 minutes after. The cause of death given was a severe spinal cord injury and a broken neck. Authorities initially stated in the police report that there was no observation of internal or external injuries. The US State Department initially released a statement reporting “Mexican authorities said there was no clear evidence Robinson was murdered”. However, on November 5 a notarized English translation of Robinson’s death certificate, based on an autopsy report from forensic doctor Rene A. Galvan-Oseguera, from the Secretariat Of Health, Baja California Sur, dated on November 4, 2022, was released. The autopsy report described Robinson’s death 15 minutes after suffering a severe spinal cord injury and an atlas luxation which is a dislocation or separation of the skull base from the atlas bone; the first bone of the neck (spinal column).
The Forensic Doctor made following forensic observations in the official autopsy report.
Date and time of death: October 29, 2022 – 15:00 p.m.
Cause of death: “Severe Spinal Cord Injury and Atlas Luxation”
Approximate time between injury and death: 15 minutes
Situation, circumstance or reason in which the injury occurred: “Person found unconscious on her living room.”
Was it accidental or violent death? Yes
Since then, time has permitted the story of that day to unfold. It has been reported that on October 29th, Shanquella’s villa was entered after 2pm. Dr. Karolina Beatriz Ornelas-Gutiérrez from the American Medical Centre arrived within an hour of being alerted, and found “a female in stable condition, but dehydrated, disorientated, verbally unresponsive, unable to communicate and appearing to be intoxicated”. As for Shanquella’s state, the friends told the doctor that Shanquella “drank a lot of alcohol”. However, when instructed to go with Shanquella to the hospital, the group declined, insisting that she be looked after in the villa.
Despite the response team attempting to save her life via IV drips, Shanquella’s state worsened. Reported is that Ms. Robinson suffered a tonic–clonic seizure (a stiffening of the body, arms and legs), as well as a sphincter relaxation (spontaneous defecation), around 4:13 p.m., which was about one hour after the doctor’s arrival. With breathing problems and her pulse dropping, an ambulance was called soon after. Shortly afterward, she suffered a heart attack. When paramedics, who were called to the scene around 4:49 pm, tried to resuscitate Robinson by administering fourteen CPR rounds of cardiac-vascular compressions and intrathoracic pressure to her chest, in an attempt to (re-)establish venous blood-oxygen saturation and blood flow. This they did as well as injecting five doses of adrenaline and six electrical discharges from a defibrillator. However, they were unable to revive any heartbeat, pulse, blood flow, pupillary reflexes or other human vital signs for Shanquella Robinson. According to the police report, Shanquella Robinson was declared clinically dead at 5:57 pm.
It’s been well over a month and there hasn’t been much more information than this. Is this case becoming just another one of those that gets pushed under the rug?
