Shanquella Robinson flew to Cabo San Lucas on October 28, 2022, for a weekend with six people she knew from Charlotte. The next afternoon she was dead. Her companions told her family she had drunk too much. A Mexican autopsy said she died of a severe spinal cord injury, and within weeks a video of her being beaten in the villa had spread across the internet.
Almost four years later, no one has been charged with a crime in the United States, no one has been arrested in Mexico, and the case lives on mainly in a North Carolina civil courtroom. This is Slaycation’s account of what happened, built from the federal court record, the U.S. Attorney’s statement, the Mexican police and autopsy findings as reported, and coverage through October 2026.
The case is both a story about one weekend and a test of what American families can do when someone dies abroad. If you came here asking who the Cabo 6 are and where they are now, that section answers it directly. If you are following the lawsuit, the 2026 rulings are near the end. And if you travel with friends, the section on what to do when something goes wrong abroad is the one we hope you never need.
One note on language. The six companions are living people. None has been charged with a crime in the United States, and no court has found any of them responsible for Shanquella’s death. Where this page describes what someone did, it says who is claiming it.
The Shanquella Robinson Case at a Glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Victim | Shanquella Robinson, 25, of Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Died | October 29, 2022, at a rental villa near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m. |
| Mexican autopsy | Severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation; no mention of alcohol |
| U.S. autopsy | Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner: cause undetermined |
| Criminal status | U.S. prosecutors declined charges on April 12, 2023. Mexico announced a femicide arrest warrant in November 2022; no arrest or extradition has followed |
| Civil case | Wrongful death suit by her mother, Sallamondra Robinson, in Mecklenburg County Superior Court; no trial date as of October 4, 2026 |
What Happened in Cabo San Lucas
Shanquella Robinson, a 25-year-old business owner and hair braider from Charlotte, arrived at a rental villa in the Puerto Los Cabos area on Friday, October 28, 2022. By Saturday evening she was dead. The account of the hours in between comes mainly from the Mexican police report, as reported by ABC, and from the video that surfaced weeks later.
- Saturday morning, October 29: a physical altercation takes place inside the villa. The Charlotte Observer, citing the police investigation, puts it between 7 and 8:30 a.m.
- 2:13 p.m.: the group requests a medical consultation, according to the police report.
- About 3 p.m.: a doctor arrives. Her account, in the police report, is that Shanquella was intoxicated and dehydrated with stable vital signs, that she advised moving her to a hospital, and that the companions wanted her treated at the villa.
- 4:20 p.m.: Shanquella has a seizure, and one companion, Wenter Donovan, calls emergency services, according to the report.
- 4:49 p.m.: she has no pulse, and CPR begins.
- 5:57 p.m.: Shanquella Robinson is pronounced dead.
The first police report attributed her death to alcohol-related causes and noted no visible injuries. That is also what the companions told her family when they returned to Charlotte. Her mother, Sallamondra Robinson, has said they told her that her daughter died of alcohol poisoning, and the family began to doubt it when her body came home bruised.
In mid-November 2022, a video began circulating online. It shows a naked Shanquella being struck repeatedly by a woman inside the villa while others are present, and a man’s voice can be heard saying, “Quella, can you at least fight back?” Her mother’s response became one of the most quoted lines of the case: “She was not fighting nobody back. She didn’t even have a chance. No one tried to stop it.”
Two Autopsies, Two Different Answers
The Mexican autopsy found that Shanquella died of a severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation, a dislocation of the top vertebra in the neck, about 15 minutes after the injury, with no mention of alcohol. The second autopsy, done in North Carolina by the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner after her body was returned, listed the cause of death as undetermined.
That gap is the hinge of the whole case. Federal prosecutors cited the autopsy results when they declined to bring charges, and the family has argued in court that the U.S. examination was compromised by embalming and by the earlier autopsy. That is the family’s allegation; the court has not ruled on it. Compare the two findings side by side:
Two Autopsies, Side by Side
Pick a question to see how each examination answered it.
For information only. Findings are summarized from court records and news reports listed in this article. No court has ruled on which autopsy is correct, and nothing here is a finding about any person. Nothing you click is stored or sent anywhere.
Who Are the Cabo 6, and Where Are They Now?
The Cabo 6 is the name the public gave to the six people who traveled with Shanquella. In the court record they are E'mani Green, formerly known as Daejhanae Jackson, Khalil Cooke, Wenter Donovan, Alysse Hyatt, Malik Dyer and Nazeer Wiggins. All six are defendants in her mother's civil lawsuit in North Carolina. None has been charged with a crime in the United States, and no court has found any of them liable.
| Name | What has been reported or filed | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| E'mani Green, formerly Daejhanae Jackson | Identified by Charlotte news outlets as the woman seen attacking Shanquella in the video. Denies the claims; her amended answer says that "to the extent Green was involved in any altercation, she was acting in self-defense" | Defendant in all six claims against the companions, and the only one sued for wrongful death and battery. Not arrested or extradited. Appealing a ruling that kept her in the case |
| Khalil Cooke | Asked the state court in 2026 to pause the case so it could be heard in Mexico | Defendant in the negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress claims. Outcome of his request not yet reported |
| Wenter Donovan | Called emergency services at 4:20 p.m., according to the Mexican police report. Her attorney joined others in arguing the case belonged in Mexico | Defendant in the negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress claims |
| Alysse Hyatt | Her attorney joined the argument that the case belonged in Mexico | Defendant in the negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress claims |
| Malik Dyer | Listed in court records as representing himself | Defendant in the negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress claims |
| Nazeer Wiggins | Representing himself. In a January 2025 letter to the court, he denied the claims and wrote that the complaint "fails to provide factual allegations identifying any specific acts or omissions by the defendant that directly caused the plaintiff harm" | Defendant in the negligence, conspiracy and emotional distress claims |
At a May 2025 federal hearing, attorneys for four of the companions argued that they should not be in the suit at all because it was another member of the group who was seen in the video, and that the case belonged in Mexico. The judge noted that the companions had all left Mexico before the investigation was finished.
Where is Daejhanae Jackson now?
Daejhanae Jackson now goes by E'mani Green. The new name became public when she answered the lawsuit in 2025, and in a sworn declaration she says she moved to Connecticut in December 2022. She has not been arrested in either country. Mexican prosecutors announced a femicide arrest warrant in November 2022 for the American they called the "direct aggressor," without naming that person publicly; the Robinson family and their lawsuit identify that person as Jackson. No official 2026 statement confirms whether the warrant is still active.
In the civil case, Green has asserted that Shanquella provoked the altercation, that her "belligerent behavior" and "excessive drinking" contributed to what happened, and that any role Green played was self-defense. In August 2026 her lawyers argued that answering the family's discovery questions could force her to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Picture what the family sees from Charlotte. Nearly four years on, the woman they hold responsible is living under a new name in another state, the criminal case has stalled in both countries, and the only forum left is a civil court where the next fight is over whether she has to answer written questions. That is why the lawsuit matters so much more to them than its dollar figure.
Why No One Has Been Charged in the United States
Federal prosecutors decided not to bring charges, and the reason they gave was the evidence. On April 12, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina said that, "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." That is a decision not to prosecute, not a finding that no crime occurred.
The FBI opened its investigation on November 18, 2022, about three weeks after Shanquella died. Records it released in June 2025, dozens of heavily redacted pages, show it sent Mexican prosecutors a list of 11 questions in January 2023, about the villa owner, security video and the ambulance report, and that it examined a phone from the trip and found nothing that revealed the cause of death. The family met White House officials in May 2023 to press for extradition. In its lawsuit, the family alleged the State Department never forwarded Mexico's extradition request; a federal judge dismissed that claim on jurisdictional grounds without deciding whether it was true.
The Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Step by Step
Sallamondra Robinson filed suit on October 28, 2024, in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, against the six companions, the FBI and the State Department. The claims against E'mani Green alone are wrongful death and battery; the claims against all six are negligence, civil conspiracy and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Press reports have described it as a $100 million suit; the court documents we could read do not confirm a figure.
The federal government moved the case to federal court in November 2024. On June 13, 2025, Judge Max Cogburn dismissed every claim against the FBI and the State Department, but the case against the six continued. On January 27, 2026, he sent it back to state court, writing in his order that the court was "left with no choice but to remand." The remand order is public on CourtListener. Follow the full case below:
Shanquella Robinson Case Tracker
Every key decision from October 2022 to October 2026. Filter by where it happened. Current as of October 4, 2026.
For information only. Court events are procedural unless stated; no court has found any person liable for Shanquella Robinson's death, and no one has been charged in the United States. Nothing you click is stored or sent anywhere.
What Is the Latest in the Shanquella Robinson Case in 2026?
The short version: the civil case survived Green's attempt to have it thrown out, she has appealed, and there is still no trial date and no arrest. Here is what happened this year.
- January 22: the Crime Junkie podcast aired an episode on the case featuring an anonymous man called "Mike," who said Jackson called him crying before the altercation and that he arrived afterward. He told the podcast he never spoke to police. His account has not been tested in any court.
- January 27: the federal judge returned the case to Mecklenburg County Superior Court.
- May to June: Superior Court Judge Matt Osman denied Green's motion to dismiss, finding the family made good faith efforts to serve her despite her name change and frequent travel. The written order is dated June 1.
- June 30: Green appealed that ruling to the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
- July 22: a hearing was set on Khalil Cooke's request to pause the case so it could proceed in Mexico. The result has not been reported.
- August 24: the family asked the court to make Green answer discovery, saying she had delayed for more than a year. Her lawyers raised the Fifth Amendment. The judge did not rule from the bench.
As of October 4, 2026, no trial date has been set, and no one has been arrested in either country.
If Someone in Your Group Is Hurt Abroad
The detail that haunts this case for anyone who travels is in the police report: a doctor advised moving Shanquella to a hospital, and she stayed in the villa. Whatever the reasons that afternoon, the lesson for the rest of us is simple. When a friend is badly hurt or unresponsive abroad, the decision about care should not belong to the group.
What you do depends on where you are. At a resort or hotel, go straight to the front desk and ask for the on-site doctor and an ambulance, because staff know the local system. At a private rental like the villa in this case, there is no front desk, so call local emergency services yourself and say clearly that you want hospital transport. Either way:
- Insist on a hospital when a doctor recommends one, and go with the person.
- Call the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, which has a 24-hour line for emergencies involving Americans.
- Write down the names of every responder and the time of each call, and keep any photos or messages.
- Call the person's family yourself, early, with exactly what you know.
If the worst happens, the State Department's guidance on the death of a U.S. citizen abroad explains what consular officers do for families, from reporting the death to bringing the person home. Picture a family in Charlotte getting that call. The more of the steps above someone took in the first hour, the fewer questions they will be left with for years.
Shanquella's case sits alongside other cases we have covered where the question of who could investigate shaped everything that followed, including the disappearance of Sudiksha Konanki in Punta Cana and the Anna Kepner case aboard the Carnival Horizon, where a crime at sea did lead to federal charges.
Public Perception and the Fight for Attention
Shanquella's case reached national attention through social media before most national outlets covered it. The hashtag #JusticeForShanquella spread across TikTok, Twitter and Facebook through late 2022, carrying the video and the gap between the companions' account and the autopsy. The case set off a wider conversation about friendships, trust and the safety of Black women traveling abroad, and many observers argued that the federal response would have been faster for a different victim.
On the third anniversary of her death, October 29, 2025, family attorneys Ben Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson said: "Three years have passed since Shanquella's life was taken, yet her family still waits for justice. The fact that no criminal charges have been brought in the United States is not only heartbreaking but unacceptable." They called on the FBI to release more information about the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the Cabo 6?
The six people who traveled to Cabo with Shanquella Robinson in October 2022: E'mani Green, formerly Daejhanae Jackson, Khalil Cooke, Wenter Donovan, Alysse Hyatt, Malik Dyer and Nazeer Wiggins. All six are defendants in her mother's civil lawsuit. None has been criminally charged in the United States.
Where is Daejhanae Jackson now?
She now goes by E'mani Green and says she moved to Connecticut in December 2022. She has not been arrested or extradited, and she is appealing a North Carolina ruling that kept her in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Was anyone charged in Shanquella Robinson's death?
Not in the United States. Federal prosecutors declined charges in April 2023, saying the evidence did not support a federal prosecution. Mexico announced a femicide arrest warrant in November 2022, but no arrest or extradition has followed.
What was Shanquella Robinson's cause of death?
The Mexican autopsy found a severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation. The U.S. autopsy in North Carolina listed the cause as undetermined.
Is there a trial date in the lawsuit?
No. As of October 4, 2026, the case is in pretrial motions in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, with Green's appeal pending at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
More Cases From Slaycation
Slaycation covers the trips that went wrong, and Shanquella Robinson's case is one we keep coming back to because it is still unresolved. We update this page when the court record moves. For the cases behind our episodes, from resorts in Punta Cana to cruise ships in the Caribbean, start with every episode of the Slaycation podcast.
References
- Robinson v. Jackson, No. 3:24-cv-01002 (W.D.N.C.): order dismissing federal defendants, June 13, 2025; E'mani Green's answer, June 18, 2025, and amended answer, July 9, 2025; remand order, January 27, 2026. Via CourtListener.
- U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina, statement of April 12, 2023, as reported by Yahoo News.
- ABC (6abc), Mexican police report details, November 24, 2022; CBS News and AP, November 18, 2022; Newsweek, November 28, 2022.
- WSOC, November 22, 2022; January 28, 2025; May 14, 2025; June 3, 2025; January 22, 2026; June 25, 2026; July 17, 2026.
- WCNC and Queen City News via Yahoo: May 27, 2026; June 4, 2026; July 17, 2026; August 25, 2026.
- ABC News, October 29, 2024; TheGrio, October 29, 2025; Charlotte Observer, January 22, 2026.