Lawyer for Shanquella Robinson says she’s fighting FBI, will sue ‘Cabo Six’

The lawyer representing Shanquella Robinson’s family says she’s been refused access to FBI documents that would detail what travel mates told authorities after the Charlotte woman died under suspicious circumstances while on vacation last year.

Sue-Ann Robinson (no family relation), of Frontline Law, made the records request in April for all documents pertaining to the case, including interviews with those often called the “Cabo Six.” At the time, the FBI announced its probe into the 25-year-old’s death had not found evidence of a crime.

Family members hoped to recover Shanquella Robinson’s personal effects — things such as her cell phone and other belongings Robinson had with her when she traveled south of the border, their lawyer says.

Their requests were denied, twice. Frontline Law shared with The Charlotte Observer a screenshot of one of the rejected records request letters sent in September.

The family and the Florida-based lawyer were told investigatory documents and personal effects could not be shared because the case is still active. While hoping extradition still is an option, for Sue-Ann Robinson, the denials all raise questions as to what the true status of the FBI’s investigation is and its overall credibility.

In an interview with The Charlotte Observer on Monday, Sue-Ann Robinson described the request: “Can we have the case documents so that we can see who you spoke to, or what is actually being said by the travel mates about the last hours of our daughter’s life?”

She was told, she says: “We can’t give you the file, because we are still in the process of translating documents from the Mexican government.”

Believing negligence on the part of the FBI, Sue-Ann Robinson is preparing to seek a wrongful death civil suit against the traveling mates as well as legal action against the federal agency and the U.S. State Department.

“The FBI, saying that they’ve done a ‘thorough diligent and complete investigation,’ announcing that the case is closed, and still saying that they’re waiting for documents to be translated, is negligent,” she said.

The complaints will need to be filed in federal court, which takes time to prepare properly, Sue-Ann Robinson said. It likely will happen before Shanquella Robinson’s next birthday, which is in January, she added.

Back in April, the Department of Justice said: “As in any case, the government is prepared to review and examine new information related to the investigation should it become available.”

Robinson died on Oct. 29, 2022, a day after arriving in the idyllic resort. Roughly two weeks later after the six people who were on the trip with her returned stateside, a video caught global attention as it showed Shanquella Robinson, naked, and being beaten.

“It’s one transnational criminal case with video evidence with six witnesses. Six witnesses that are alive and haven’t fled anywhere,” Sue-Ann Robinson said. “They have the same cell phone numbers that they had when the crime transpired. If the FBI can open up files on Malcolm X and Martin Luther King for no reason, why can’t they (investigate) six people who are involved in the murder of a U.S. citizen on video? (These are) questions that need answers.”

Extradition still pending

In addition to an autopsy, few pieces of evidence have been available to authorities including a police report that says Robinson was still alive when medical help first arrived at the villa where she stayed with six others.

Her traveling mates originally said she died of alcohol poisoning.

Months later, an autopsy revealed she had no alcohol in her system, which backs up assertions from Mexican law enforcement officials, her family and lawyers, who say the 25-year-old Charlotte woman’s death was violent and not caused by alcohol poisoning.

Mexican authorities have issued an arrest warrant for at least one the six travelers, but for extradition to take place, they need an authorization from the U.S. State Department.

The lawyer explained that in the case of extradition happening, there would be “a very public federal extradition proceeding where the defendants would have opportunity to object in federal court,” if for example, the Mexican authorities’ investigation wasn’t thorough, she added.

She blames the State Department for “sitting on their hands with respect to the Shanquella Robinson case.”

“This has not been done,” Sue-Ann Robinson said. “None of that has even been kicked of, because these people are at home at night in their beds.”

Pursuing a civil case

With the family planning to pursue a civil case of wrongful death claims against the six traveling mates, what would be at stake are civil damages, as well as bringing a claim of negligence against the two federal agencies, Sue-Ann Robinson said.

“Hopefully, during the process of preparing and getting discovery and evidence in the civil case, we might actually be able to do the thorough investigation that the FBI never did, and possibly find more information about the case to initiate criminal proceedings,” she told the Observer.

“The family is literally out here having to carve their own path to justice, like they are their own FBI,” she said.