Shanquella Robinson’s sister, Tequila Long, said friends lied to her family about the details surrounding the 25-year-old’s death from the very beginning.
As previously reported by REVOLT, Shanquella passed away last month while on a trip to Los Cabos, Mexico, with a group of people she believed to be her friends. A day after arriving in the popular tourist city, she was found unconscious in their rental property. She died soon after.
Her friends said her death was caused by alcohol poisoning. Long confirmed with ESSENCE in a Nov. 30 interview that the friends even spoke to her and her mother, Salamondra Robinson. “I was believing the dude that she went on the trip with because that was her best friend. I didn’t think that he would be malicious about anything. I didn’t think that he would tell us a lie. I trusted him,” said Long.
Shanquella’s family heard she and the group were involved in a fight while in Mexico, but her friends repeatedly denied the claim. Long shared that, “The two young ladies and the male told us that there wasn’t any type of fighting going on… We asked him about the fight because we were hearing from other people that they were out there fighting her; they had jumped on her out there. So they all was giving us a story, a lie, until the video surfaced.”
In November, the world saw footage of a naked Shanquella being repeatedly punched by one of the women she considered a friend. Long said she can’t unsee the video of her sister’s attack. “They had to wake her up out of her sleep because she sleeps naked. She was naked standing there, and here she is fighting this girl… That image of her didn’t sit well with me,” said Long.
An autopsy would later reveal that Shanquella died as a result of a severe back and neck injuries. Upon the FBI joining in on the investigation of her passing, the case was upgraded to a homicide. Mexican authorities have since issued an arrest warrant and are awaiting the extradition of a female suspect. Charges are forthcoming.
On Nov. 19, Shanquella was laid to rest in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Hundreds of people lined the streets as a hearse carrying her casket made its way to Macedonia Baptist Church. You can view footage of the community mourning Shanquella’s death below.