CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) — The death certificate for Shanquella Robinson has been released, but her family says it doesn’t answer enough questions in the 25-year-old’s death last month.
Robinson, well known for her business braiding hair, was in Cabo San Lucas with a group of friends celebrating someone’s birthday. The 25-year-old turned up dead after just one day on vacation.
The death certificate, obtained by Nexstar’s WJZY, lists the cause of death as severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation, which is instability in the uppermost vertebrae.
Robinson and her friends had rented a villa, and supposedly didn’t go out that night. According to Robinson’s family, the friends told them she was drunk when she died.
“They didn’t call us until the very last minute, and then on top of that, they said the maid found her,” Salamondra Robinson, Shanquella’s mother, said. “No one told the same story, so I never believed them anyway,”
The section of the death certificate where police could have noted any sign of intoxication only said “person found unconscious in her living room.”
The group stayed at Villa Linda 32, a property listed on CaboVillas.com. A representative of the company said the group of friends called the concierge for help on a Saturday afternoon. The concierge called a doctor, who gave CPR.
Robinson died at 3 p.m., an estimated 15 minutes after her injury.
The death certificate has a section that reads, “Was it accidental or violent?”
“Yes,” was typed into that section, but it’s unclear which of those questions authorities were answering.
WJZY obtained a list of the seven guests who signed into the villa and called the phone numbers they left with the company. Some numbers weren’t valid; others went to voicemail.
“I probably won’t be at ease until someone’s arrested,” said Salamondra.
The U.S. State Department previously told WJZY that Mexican authorities believe there’s no clear evidence Robinson was murdered.