US Authorities Won't Make An Arrest Or Seek Charges In Shanquella Robinson Case
Federal prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence of wrongdoing to issue criminal charges in the Shanquella Robinson murder case.
No arrests or criminal charges will be made by U.S. authorities in the murder of Shanquella Robinson.
United States Attorney Dena King and the FBI shared their reasoning in a statement released Wednesday, April 12, saying that there was not enough evidence of wrongdoing to issue criminal charges in Robinson's case.
"As in every case under consideration for federal prosecution, the government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a federal crime was committed," a part of the statement said. "Based on the results of the autopsy and after a careful deliberation and review of the investigative materials by both U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal prosecutors informed Ms. Robinson’s family today that the available evidence does not support a federal prosecution."
It's unknown how this will affect the extradition request Mexican prosecutors had for a friend of Robinson's. Previously, Daniel de la Rosa, the attorney general for Mexico’s Baja California Sur, said that an arrest warrant had been issued "for the crime of femicide to the detriment of the victim and against an alleged, responsible for these acts, a friend of hers," while also adding that Robinson's death wasn't the result of a“quarrel” but “a direct aggression that this person made.”
When Robinson's death first surfaced on social media, users compared the incident to the mysterious death of Kenneka Jenkins, the 19-year-old who was found dead inside a latched freezer of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare hotel back in September 2017. When initial reports came out about the incident, Jenkins’ mother, Tereasa Martin, was told by police that her daughter had apparently let herself into the freezer while intoxicated and died inside (Jenkins was at the hotel for a party). But Martin was skeptical of this, as well as accounts Jenkins’ friends who were also present at the party gave, saying that their stories “changed over and over.”
King and the FBI's full statement can be read here.