Family still seeking answers a month after U.S. woman's death in Mexico: "The last breath she took, she suffered"
Mexican prosecutors are trying to get an unnamed American extradited to Mexico to face charges in the death of Shanquella Robinson, an American tourist who died last month at a resort near Cabo San Lucas.
Authorities say Robinson was killed in a "direct attack, not an accident."
Robinson traveled with six friends to Mexico. Some of those friends initially told Robinson's parents she died of alcohol poisoning, but her death certificate later listed her cause of death as a spinal cord and neck injury.
Robinson's father told "CBS Mornings" that if it weren't for the disturbing videos that emerged from his daughter's trip, including one where she is being brutally attacked, he fears justice would never be served.
"She was just a very, you know, outgoing person," Bernard Robinson said of his only child. "She loved people. Just loved the friends that she was around."
Days after her death, a disturbing video went viral showing a woman beating Shanquella, who was naked and not fighting back, while other friends watched and filmed nearby.
"My daughter, she suffered," Bernard said. "The last breath she took, she suffered, and they sit there and watched."
A local police report shows friends called for medical help just after 2 p.m., saying Robinson had "drunk a lot of alcohol." When the doctor arrived and suggested she be taken to a hospital, she told police Robinson's friends refused and insisted on keeping her at the resort.
Bernard said her friends called Shanquella's mother that night to say she was being treated for alcohol poisoning. An autopsy report released days later states Shanquella died of a severe spinal cord injury and neck trauma at around 3 p.m.
Bernard Robinson says his daughter's friends are to blame for the 25-year-old's death.
After her death, all six friends returned to the United States.
Robinson's death is being investigated by Mexican authorities as a crime of femicide, or the killing of a woman because of her gender. Mexican authorities are now seeking the extradition of a single female suspect.
John Jay College law professor Dimitry Shakhnevich, who has no connection to the case, said the process now lies in the hands of the U.S. justice system. "They will engage in their own due process to see if this person that is alleged to have committed a crime should be extradited," he said.
The FBI has said it has opened an investigation into the death as well.
At this time, it remains unclear whether those who witnessed the fight may also be in legal jeopardy.
Bernard Robinson said, "I want the truth."
"I want them to get back over there and tell the Mexican authorities why they did what they did," he said.
"I can't even be a grandfather. I can't even walk her down the aisle now. Only thing I can do is cherish the moments that we had for 25 years while she was here on this Earth," he added.
