Dreams to Nightmares: What happened to Shanquella Robinson?

Six friends embark on their dream vacation to Cabo, Mexico from Charlotte, North Carolina, but only five returned. The family of Shanquella Robinson wants answers.

The account that I am about to give is all alleged with information coming from various sources. No one has been charged with a crime as of yet.

October 28, 2022 was the last time Bernard and Salamondra Robinson saw their 25-year-old daughter, Shanquella, alive.

Shanquella and six of her friends were enjoying dinner made by a private chef at their vacation rental, Villa Linda 32, in San Jose del Cabo that Friday. According to Robinson’s mother, in an article by The Daily Beast, “All seemed well.”

The following evening, she said she received a call from Shanquella’s best friend, Khalil Cooke, saying that Shanquella was vomiting and he suspected that alcohol poisoning was the culprit, from a report by Sandra Rose.

Salamondra, said she was not alarmed because her daughter was with her best friend of five years, who invited her on the misfortunate trip.

Around 3pm the same day, the 25-year-old hairdresser was pronounced dead at the Villa.

Six other people who went on the trip were, Khalil Cooke, Malik Dyer, Wenter Donovan, Alysse Hyatt, Daejhanae Jackson, and Nazeer Wiggins according to the Cabo Villas guest registry.

Salamondra does not believe her daughter’s death was caused by alcohol poisoning. She states, “Each person was telling a different story,” according to an article by BET.

Her death was not from alcohol poisoning like her friends allegedly first reported. According to her autopsy report, Robinson died from a broken neck and severe spinal cord injuries.

A video, too graphic to link to, was recently published by an unknown source allegedly showing Jackson viciously beating a naked Robinson, who refused to defend herself, even after being goaded by others in the room/ recording the assault to do so.

The cause of the attack has not yet been released.

According to the report, Robinson died shortly after the attack.

It took her family two weeks and $6,000 to have her body brought back home to Charlotte, North Carolina.

All of the aforementioned statements are alleged and from external sources.

As previously mentioned, no one has been charged with a crime.

This is how I feel about the entire situation, complete with updates to the case:

It is a shame that yet another young, Black person had to die at the hands of another young, Black person.

If there is a resulting arrest, not only does Shanquella Robinson’s family have to deal with the loss of their loved one, but likely the family of everyone who was there on that fateful excursion.

The first thing I want to discuss are the actions (or lack thereof) of those who went on the trip and witnessed the brutal assault on Shanquella.

As Shanquella’s best friend of five years, if it was in fact alcohol poisoning that lead to her death, why didn’t anyone, much less Khalil, cut her off from drinking for the night?

She is an adult, like everyone else that was reportedly there, but if this situation was getting dangerous, why would you leave her responsive body in the vacation rental instead of bringing her to receive medical attention?

Her body was found by a maid, according to a report by The Sun.

When footage came out of ‘Quella,’ as she is referred to in the video, being attacked, why didn’t anyone step in to intervene?

Nazeer Wiggins, one of the alleged guests to the vacation spot, released an instagram live video where he gives his account of what happened.

In the video, Nazeer claimed to have been late for check in because he missed his flight. He also says that he came after everything happened and that Robinson was already unconscious when he arrived.

If he is unsure of what truly took place, why even speak on the matter?

He did not call the authorities either, so he is just as guilty.

Legally, it would be more prudent for him to uphold his fifth amendment rights.

Wiggins would not be the only one in the wake of Robinson’s death to take to social media.

Daejhanae Jackson, a self proclaimed healthcare professional and the woman shown repeatedly kicking and punching Shanquella Robinson took to her personal, now deleted, instagram profile asking people to donate money to her cash app for an interview.

There are only so many ways I can display my disgust by her abhorrent behavior besides pleading for the public not to donate to her for an interview.

The money could be used for a myriad of nefarious reasons, including, but not limited to: Her fleeing from the U.S. to escape possible prosecution from the F.B.I., who are now involved in the case, to her raising money to aid in her legal defense.

I am not adjudicating her guilty. However, if she is innocent in her “friend’s” death, she should not be allowed to capitalize off of it, especially considering how the Robinson family had to raise over $6,000 to bring their baby’s body back home.

As the case develops, I want to leave you all with some words of wisdom from my mother and father:

“Smiling faces show no traces, and every shut eye ain’t sleep.”

This means just because someone smiles in your face and professes to be your friend, does not make it so. This is especially the case if someone who hasn’t ever claimed to be your friend, suddenly befriends you. Just because someone doesn’t verbally express dislike towards you, does not mean they do not wish you ill will.

Khalil was secretly never Shanquella’s friend, and I wish she found that out sooner before this trip to Cabo.

R.I.P. Shanquella Robinson. I wish you nothing but the most peaceful rest and justice for you and your family in the future.

UPDATE: An arrest warrant was issued and extradition proceedings have begun in Mexico according to an article by The Daily Mail. Although the name of the specific individual has not yet been released, it is suspected that the warrant is for Daejhanae Jackson, who was caught on video brutalizing Shanquella.

Continue following the Apples to Oranges Newsletter for future updates.