Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - FAMILY ASKS WHITE HOUSE: WHY NO ARRESTS AFTER DEADLY GIRLS' TRIP

Episode Date: March 20, 2023

Attorneys Ben Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson have sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the White House to take action in Robinson's death.  The attorneys,  on behalf of mother Salamandra  Robinson, encourage the U.S. to extradite Shanquella's killer to Mexico or the U.S. takes jurisdiction of the case.  An FBI investigation is underway.   Shanquilla Robinson traveled from North Carolina to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with friends. It is one of those friends who stand accused in Robinson's death. According to a Mexican police report, a doctor was called to assist Robinson around 2 p.m. The doctor insisted on taking her to the hospital, but her friends refused.    According to Robinson's death certificate, she died from a severe spinal cord injury and a broken neck. Doctors call the injury an internal decapitation. A video surfaced after Robinson death showing her being beaten by one of the traveling friends. The documents submitted to the White House named the friend and calls for her to be extradited to face charges.  Joining Nancy Grace today: Salamondra Robinson - Victim's Mother, gofundme.com/f/shanquella-robinson-funeral-services   Sue-Ann Robinson- Attorney for the Robinson family; Twitter: @notjustalawyer  Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills, CA); New Netflix Show: 'Bling Empire' (Beverly Hills); Twitter: @DrBethanyLive   Irv Brandt - Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch, Chief Inspector, and DOJ Office of International Affairs: US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica;  Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE AVAILABLE ON AMAZON; ALSO "FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;" Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner for Tarrant County (Ft. Worth), Lecturer for University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School  Brandon Hamilton- Anchor/reporter for WBTV Charlotte; Twitter: BHAMonTV  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The name Shankwilla Robinson is burned into my mind because this beautiful, brilliant young woman, death still is unavenged. Why? I mean, her death, her homicide is caught on video. Why? Because she went away on a girl's weekend to, I think, a five-star resort not too far from where Jennifer Aniston and other Hollywood celebrities vacation. She was woken up early. She's still naked. She sleeps without any clothes on. Yanked out of bed.

And then a beating began. Her head essentially was dislodged from her spine in the beating. And she died. No, not at the hands of some unknown assailant, not some drug dealer in Mexico that we hear so much about. By her own friends. The girls weekend murder of this beautiful young girl just lying there asleep. And what in the world did they think it was a good thing to video it? Was it some spectator sport for them?

Still no justice with a video. Joining me is Shankula's mother and a lawyer that is vowing for justice and has gone so far as to writing the White House. I mean, is that what you have to do to get justice? You have to make a special plea to the president for Pete's sake? That's so wrong on so many levels. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories, and I want to thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to our friends at WCNC. The attorneys representing Shankuela Robinson's family, they say they know who Mexican authorities are seeking for Robinson's death. The Charlotte Observer reports those attorneys shared that name in a letter to the White House. She's a 26-year-old. The Observer reports those attorneys shared that name in a letter to the

White House. She's a 26-year-old. The Observer reports the letter includes findings from a trip a family attorney took to Mexico recently. Robinson, you'll remember, died while on vacation with six others in Cabo last year. And in January, prosecutors in Baja, California, SOAR named that they were seeking a suspect facing femicide charges. Okay, so a letter's been sent to the White House. Is that going to do any good at all? I don't know. Should they have just crumbled it up and thrown it out on 3rd Avenue in New York? Is it going to fall on deaf ears? The president's not a prosecutor. So what do we do to get justice for Shankwilla? I mean, when you feel like you've got to write the president because you're not getting justice,

I feel so badly for Shankwilla's mother, Salamandra Robinson, joining me right now. Before I go through what happened to Shankwilla, I just want to ask Ms. Robinson, what led you to want this letter sent to the White House? Trying to get some justice and hoping that people with more power can step in and do something. I'm just beside myself that this mother, listen, a lot of you listening and watching right now, your mothers, fathers, when you have your back against the wall and your beloved child, your girl is murdered and you get sick, literally sick to your stomach when you see that video and you feel like you have to write the president to get justice?

Also with me, Sue Ann Robinson, high profile lawyer for Shankwila's family at FrontlineFirm.com. That is a very rare and unique move, Ms. Robinson. Why did you and Shankwila's family feel you have to write the president to get justice for Shankwila's death? The uniqueness of the case and the lengths that we've had to go to didn't start with the letter to the president. I physically went on a fact-finding mission to Mexico, to Cabo, to get information for Shekola's family because they were being ping-ponged between U.S. authorities and Mexican authorities over the phone. And so, you know, Salamandra gave me the word. She said, listen, we need boots on the ground, somebody to find out what's really going on because U.S. authorities are telling us

it's Mexico's investigation. Mexico is saying you need to be getting your information because U.S. authorities are telling us it's Mexico's investigation. Mexico is saying you need to be getting your information from U.S. authorities. And we were just going around in a circle. So once I went on that fact-finding mission and was advised directly by the attorney general in Mexico, hey, we did our investigation. We've done our forensics. We've done our photographic evidence. We've taken witness statements. We put all of those things together in a packet and sent it to the United States, to the FBI, to Interpol to begin the extradition process, the request process. So there's, we are, we have completed our part. That's when we came back and had the press conference essentially saying, okay, the ball is in the U.S. authorities court. What's going to happen? What's next? It's a crying shame that you have to go through all this, have a press conference, get yourself down to Mexico to investigate.

Now, when you say the AG in Mexico told you Mexico's done all they need to do to get the suspects back, are you talking about the Mexican attorney general? Correct. In Baja Sur, which is the Cabo State, basically, where Cabo is. And the reason why the documents are even attached to the letter is so that it closes the gap for the administration to say they didn't know about the case. They don't know what's happening on the case. They don't know the details. They don't know the ask. There hasn't been an investigation. So it's very limited what was attached because obviously we're not going to try and put the investigation in any type of jeopardy.

But we're saying, look, this has been investigated. There is video photographic evidence. There are witnesses that are at large in the United States. This is a very serious case. And we're just hoping to get some response. You know, it's amazing to me that Sue Ann Robinson, high profile lawyer taking on the Shankwilla case, has sent a letter to the White House to name a 26 year old suspect wanted in Mexico and includes an 18 page packet with the autopsy, police reports, as of yet, unreleased documents

pertaining to the investigation to show U.S. authorities, OK, here it is. Now make the arrest. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the case, this is a case you need to know about. out. Shankwila, as I said, beautiful, brilliant, a loving daughter, goes away on a girl's trip to Mexico. As I mentioned, we're hearing all about how dangerous Mexico is. This is right a hop, skip, and a jump from where Jennifer Aniston and all the celebrities go. See pictures of them out in their bikinis eating chips and dip she's there at this gorgeous resort and ends up dead in her own hotel room okay how did we get here take a listen to our cut to cbs i received a call on saturday saying that my daughter was sick and that she had alcohol poison

but her doctor had never arrived so i don't know whether he got the alcohol poison from so at that time they said a doctor was on the way to examine her and she wasn't responding as they told me say she was resting a little bit but she wasn't we wasn't all the way responding as normal I told him to keep me informed and I wanted to know why they couldn't take her to the emergency room. They said because they needed $5,000 cash to be seen in the emergency room. And I said, well, she has insurance. And they said they didn't take insurance by being out the country. Okay, that is total and complete BS. Your friend is lying there in a comatose state, and you don't take them to the ER? I have dived in Mexico and had to go to the ER.

I didn't have to pay $5,000. That didn't happen to me. Hi, guys. Nancy Grace here. Our friends and partners at Fox Nation have an exclusive new movie out right now, Murder for Sale. In this new original movie, real estate agent Violet Becker is devastated when her best friend and fellow real estate agent dies at an open house. Violet is suspicious about the circumstances of the death and sets out to investigate. She soon finds herself in unfamiliar territory as she uncovers shocking truths about her friend's life and mysterious death. Starring Caitlin Clark, Julia Benson, and Matt Hamilton, Murder for Sale is available exclusively on Fox Nation.

Fox Nation subscribers also have access to all kinds of exclusive programming, including the video simulcast of Crime Stories, our team's special investigations, original movies like Murder for Sale, and so much more. Sign up for Fox Nation to watch. Just go to foxnation.com. Don't wait. Catch this movie. It's awesome. Go to foxnation.com now to watch. crime stories with nancy grace dr kendall crowns joining me the chief medical examiner tarrant county that's fort worth he is a lecturer university texas in austin and texas christian university medical school dr crowns that story stinks to high heaven. And what are they, physicians? How do they know she's got alcohol poisoning?

Oh, right. I mean, the alcohol poisoning story seems very fabricated. And she would still be breathing. She would still be at least have a pulse. But all the information we have, it just looks like she was pretty much almost dead immediately, especially when you watch that video. To me, it seems like she's unresponsive as soon as she slipped over the other girl's leg. Dr. Kendall Crowns, you have looked at the video and you have read the Mexican autopsy, as have I. I've studied it very carefully, and it certainly is not death by alcohol poisoning.

What exactly happened to Shangri-La? I can hardly stand to even look at the video. Well, what's interesting about the autopsy report is she only has a couple bruises, one on her forehead, one kind of on the hand. So really, she's not fighting back at all uh and watching the video she's not fighting back she's just assaulted and then grabbed by the head and then violently flung around and what they did find at the autopsy is the separation or the subluxation or the movement of the vertebrae of her cervical spine specifically the axis and the atlas. Okay, slow down. Just wait a minute. Wait a minute. Doctor, I'm just a JD, not an MD.

Please speak English. What are you saying? So there's two vertebrae right after your skull. They're the axis and the atlas. And those two vertebrae, the spinal cord is going through, and that portion of the spinal cord is very important because it has your ability to keep your heart going, your breathing going, all that. So it connects your, those two cervical, what do you call them, the two what?

Cervical vertebrae. Vertebrae. They connect your head to your spine? They're your brain to the rest of your body. Okay. Got it. All right. You said we're saying heart and what else?

Breathing. All those things you don't think about, you know, that keep you alive. They're kind of contained in that area. So she grabbed and then flung violently, which causes the axis and the atlas, which are the two cervical vertebrae that are in that area of the spinal cord to move or dislocate and then they push on the spinal cord cause injury to the spinal cord which eventually results in her death. Did her head become disattached to her spine those two vertebrae? So if there is potential for there to be the basically the head is kind of pulled off of those vertebrae. So essentially, yes, it's become detached, but it's still held into place by muscle and all that. So she hasn't had it completely detached, but it was probably for a brief second, her head was separated from her spinal column while she was being flipped through the air.

Is that an internal decapitation? Yes, that would be what it would be called, yes. So of course she wasn't responding. separated from her spinal column while she was being flipped through the air. Is that an internal decapitation? Yes, that would be what it would be called, yes. So, of course, she wasn't responding. Her brain couldn't send signals to the rest of her body. Correct. I mean, am I saying this correctly? Because I have no idea what I'm talking about right now. That would be correct, yes. Ms. Salamandra Robinson, I know you told me that you could hardly stand to look at that video.

And I know you've heard all of this before. But I am so sorry. You have to hear again what happened to your girl. I just, I find it all so hard to believe that her friends did that, Mrs. Robinson. He is so sad. Guys, in the last

days, Mrs. Robinson has had to get a lawyer, Sue Ann Robinson, who had to pay for her trip down to Mexico to try to get answers why nothing is happening in this case. The video where you see her getting Rasa out of bed and everyone's standing around cackling. They're like the witches around the fire cackling and heckling Shankwilla. And she's just sitting there on the carpet of the bedroom.

I thought she was just looking around dazed. Now, based on what Dr. Kendall Crowns is telling me, she couldn't do anything. Because at this point, she has had internal decapitation. Her head has been jerked off. Those two, I think you said the atlas and the axis vertebrae. Is that what you said, doctor? Yes, that's correct. And her brain, as dry as it might, it can no longer send signals to the rest of her body.

How did the whole thing unfold? Take a listen to Victor Aquindo at ABC. On October 29th, one of the guests staying at the resort called for help around 2 p.m. Upon arriving, medical professionals were informed that Robinson had drunk a lot of alcohol. A doctor reportedly said she was stable but dehydrated, suggesting she may be treated at a hospital. The guests insisting she remain at the villa. A police report stating Robinson went into cardiac arrest and was declared deceased around 6 p.m.

Back to Mrs. Robinson. After they first called you and said, she got alcohol poisoning. What were those hours like that passed until you found out she had passed away? It was very hard, you know, and sad because there was nothing I could do and I couldn't get to her, even though, you know, they was lying to me all the time. But, you know, I'm thinking that she had drunk too much and had a good time and I'm thinking that she was going to be okay, but she wasn't.

And at the time that they called me, pretty much sounded like she was already, you know, dead if she wasn't. Because, and I don't understand what kind of doctor that was, because it looked like the doctor would have seen that she needed help, medical help, and took her to the doctor, to the hospital, instead of sitting there. As they say, she was there two hours, an hour, working on her, but she didn't get anything done. I just don't understand that. That's just so heartbreaking that they send a doctor to you, and the doctor cannot do anything for you, did not do anything for her, did not get any help. You know, Ms. Robinson, it's never John David, my son. It's my daughter, Lucy.

She's the one that always feels sick at school. And granted, I would say about 50% of the time it's true. But the moment I see her name pop up on my phone, I don't care where I am. If I'm in the studio, my whole heart is in my chest until I can get to her. I remember the night that my father went on life support. I had just gotten back to New York and I got the call from my mother. I got the twins out of the bed, got them dressed. We were out on the sidewalk trying to hail a taxi at 1230 at night to try to get home. And hours passed before I could get back home.

And that feeling of not being there to help him is just, I'll never forget it. What was going through your mind? Just hurt and pain. Like I said, I couldn't get there to her, you know, not knowing what's wrong, you know, what was wrong. And then come to find out, you know, that they had killed her, beat her, you know, I'm thinking that it's alcohol poisoning. I think I could have handled it a little better thinking it was alcohol poisoning. But when I found out that somebody beat her and killed her you know that just took it to a whole nother level i was just sick of it i was sick from the beginning

but i got even more sick joining me in addition to shankuilla's mom miss alamandra robinson and their lawyer who's taking this fight all the way to the white House, Sue Ann Robinson with Frontline Firm. Also with me, Brandon Hamilton with WBTV Charlotte. Brandon, I'm going to circle back to you regarding why the hay aren't these women behind bars right now, these so-called friends. And then the one friend guy, not a boyfriend, a friend of the friend group, why aren't they all behind bars? Because even after they get back from Cabo, some of them go to Ms. Robinson's house and lie through their teeth to her about what happened to her daughter. But could you tell me about the resort, Brandon, where they were staying? That resort, as you said, is one of the five-star resorts in Cabo. So it's a villa, you know,

everything is there that you would expect for a vacation. But to your question, as far as, you know, why the group has not been arrested, I think Attorney Robinson talked about it earlier as far as the information. So we've been requesting multiple documents not only from the FBI from the State Department from Mexican authorities and we've also on you know the journalists I have gotten ping-ponged back and forth I've been told numerous times oh reach out to Mexican authorities and Mexican authorities tell us to reach out to the U.S. authorities so it's been hard to try to figure out why no one has been arrested because finding those facts, we've been, you know, shoveled in so many different directions.

So as far as the fact of why they have it, it's a good question that we've been trying to dig for since the beginning in October, November. I have a reason. Is this Sue Ann Robinson? It is. Go ahead, ma'am. Go ahead. A transnational criminal case takes a high level of diplomatic intervention. The president has to talk to the head of state in Mexico, and the head of our law enforcement agencies have to talk to Mexican law enforcement agency heads

in order for either the U.S. citizens involved be extradited and go back to Mexico and be tried under Mexican laws or for the U.S. authorities to say, we're going to ask for concurrent jurisdiction, do our own investigation and prosecute those people here. Those are the things that have to be done. There's precedent, there's protocol, there's a hundred-year-old

treaty for extradition. It's not anything that's new. What's new and unique in this case is that we're having to beg for it to be done. We just saw with the Mexican kidnapping case, it was very easy for federal law enforcement in the United States to join with Mexican law enforcement, list the reward of $50,000 and get that kidnapping case locked down and resolved with Mexican law enforcement agencies. So it's not an issue that it can't be done, that there's so much red tape that it takes weeks and weeks or 138 days. In Shankula's case, it can be done very swiftly. It's just not being done. And I don't understand that. Guys, with me, an expert in exactly this issue. Irv Brandt is joining us, Senior Inspector, U.S. Marshal Service in International Investigations Branch. The Chief Inspector with DOJ, Office of International Affairs, has worked in multiple embassies and author of Solo Shot and also Flying Solo, both on Amazon. Irv Brandt, before you answer that question, I want you to take a listen to our cut five.

At the very beginning, Irv, we already know the friends are lying. And who are the friends? Not only do we have them on video, but the hotel employees, the resort employees directed cops to the registration and there's all their names and their addresses and their passport numbers, the whole shebang. They don't need a lot of investigation. Listen to this, Irv. But those reports differing from an autopsy obtained by ABC News stating that medical professionals arrived at the villa around 3 p.m. and declared her dead within 15 minutes, citing that Robinson died from a severe spinal cord injury and a dislocated neck.

But this to happen to her is just terrible. You know, I just couldn't believe it. It's like I'm still asleep, like a nightmare. They all came to my house on Tuesday and explained what had happened. Salamandra says Shanquilla's friends blamed her death on alcohol. Then the Robinson family received a copy of her death certificate. It shows she died 15 minutes after injuring her neck and spinal cord. The report also states Shanquilla was found unconscious in the living room and her death is believed to be violent or accidental. So there you have it, Irv Brandt. You're the expert in these foreign affairs, particularly in Mexico.

You've got their names and all their info listed on the resort registration. You've got their pictures from their passports. You have their home addresses and you have a video of them killing shankwilla what is the problem irv nancy there is no problem uh the way you well they're not in jail that's my problem exactly uh the way you just laid it out you would think that these people would be already in custody and an extraditable offense from the United States. When Mexican authorities, knowing, going into this case, investigating this case, know the victim is an American, know the suspects are American,

because like you said, they had their their passport numbers they had all their information they know where they're from they decided purposely decided to charge femicide now I don't know they checked the international extradition treaty with the United States or not before deciding on the charge. If they did, they would have solved, they can't extradite someone from the United States on that charge. Okay, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I thought a treaty for extradition is what you enforce when you can't get the extradition done. You say, look, we've got a treaty, you have to. It seems to me the U.S. would want to extradite them.

That's correct. Nancy, that is correct. But under the treaty that we have with Mexico, which we've had for a long time, and both sides extradite citizens uh continuously the there's listed crimes but isn't femicide which is the the homicide of a woman is still a homicide it's just a different name for homicide that that's correct but it doesn't work like that you know this as an attorney and legal terms you can't say, you know what I mean. Yeah, you're right. Okay, you're right.

It's got to be re-indicted. The feds can bring their own charges. Hold on, Sue Ann Robinson speaking. You're saying the U.S. federal government can bring their own charges and try? Explain. Of course. They can investigate the case themselves heck these people left mexico and transported evidence in shankula's suitcase to her mother's house

they were talking over a cell phone with each other via text messages. So there's plenty of things and issues that the Fed can investigate stateside to take these people into custody for. You mean try them in the U.S., Sue Ann? Absolutely. And they can do that by requesting concurrent jurisdiction and saying, okay, may we go to Mexico and look at the crime scene ourselves? Okay, we've done that. Now we're going to initiate our own investigation in the United States by picking up these people and having the conversations that need to be had. The United States can ask for their own to have a concurrent investigation with Mexico. They just did it with the kidnapping case. Herb Brandt, we saw this to some degree in the Natalie Holloway case where everyone was screaming,

why don't you just try the case in the U.S.? We didn't have, you have to have not only subject matter jurisdiction, you have to have geographical jurisdiction. Correct. But that said, the U.S. does have subject matter jurisdiction because the victim is a U.S. citizen, but we don't have geographic jurisdiction. So how can we overcome that, Irv, or can we overcome that? Nancy, it happens, but it happens very rarely. I have only worked a few cases, and it wasn't cases where they wanted to try the case in the United States. They wanted to try the case in another country. You mean U.S. officials want to try the case in another country because

Sue Ann Robinson keeps pointing out the recent Mexico, reportedly, cartel murder of Americans that were there for a tummy tuck, according to them. Yes, we got results. Yes, the White House reportedly intervened. But those killers, I believe, are being tried in Mexico. What I'm understanding, Herb Brandt, is that our best shot is to get Mexico to re-indict with homicide, which is a really, they've already gotten one indictment on femicide, same grand jury, given the same evidence, and indict for homicide. Don't you think that's the easiest, simplest way to get justice, Irv? Nancy, I think that's the only way. The alternatives are just the complexity of the alternatives. I don't think makes it possible. The only way that these people are going to be prosecuted is if they're charged with an extraditable crime, then taken back to Mexico and prosecuted there. It doesn't take 136 days for the United States State Department to say, hey, guys, we don't agree with this charge.

Can you go back and reindict or figure out what is right under the treaty? It doesn't take 136 days for that. And somebody actually has to do that. Someone has to say, other than us, has to say, hey, we can't extradite based on this charge. So the issue is why isn't it true brandon hamilton joining me from wb tv isn't it true we know who the perps are they're in the video we not only know where they did live before they immediately moved and got rid of their cell phones. You know, it's not hard to track down people just because you get rid of your cell phone and move.

You're still trackable through your bank records, your ATM movements. What'd you do with your job? You're not working anymore? Go to their family, their mom, their dad, their cousins, their brothers, their sisters, and find them. That's not the hard part. Don't we know who these people are? For Pete's sake, one is named in a letter to the White House. Nancy, that is correct.

And when you said tracking people down, I actually tracked down one of those friends back in December. I traveled to her job. She got off work, met her in the parking lot, went up to her and asked her what happened to Shankula Robinson. Now, she had the look of a ghost, like she saw a ghost when she realized that I was with a TV station. So if, you know, through sources, I found this address, it's not hard for the federal government to do the same. Guys, listen to our cut nine from WSOC. Salamandra Robinson describes her daughter, Shankwila, as a hardworking business owner. She remembers the last moment she saw her

daughter happy on a trip with friends in Cabo, Mexico. I looked at some of her posts that she had put up. She was really having a nice time, and I don't know where it went wrong from there. Salamandra told me over Zoom she last spoke with her daughter on the phone on Friday, October 28th. The next day, Salamandra says she received a frantic call from Shankwila's friends. They said she wasn't feeling well, that it was alcohol poisoning. We was going along with this story, even though we never believed anything they was telling us. Salamandra says she came across this video salamandra identified the people in the video as shankula and her cabo travel partners you can hear someone in the video ask if quela could at least fight back there was

no fight they they attacked her it was never a fight she didn't fight they attacked her. It was never a fight. She didn't fight. They attacked her. Now, Salamandra says she has more questions than answers. She wants justice for her daughter. She was a good child and had a great heart, and she did not deserve to be treated like that. Dr. Bethany Marshall joining us, renowned psychoanalyst joining us out of Beverly Hills at drbethanymarshall.com. So the mom, Ms. Robinson, can't even grieve. So she's all torn up about losing her daughter. And in the midst of that, she's trying to force two governments to reconcile to seek justice. And also in the middle of all of this, Nancy, she has these crazy homicidal friends of her daughter contacting her at large, texting each other,

all this communication going on that could be possible evidence. You know, the missing piece in all of this, I look at this from a group psychology perspective. In every group, one person gets cast out and devalued. And if we think of the group, this group psychology is consisting of the Mexican government, the U.S. government, the White House, that Shankwila is the one in this group who has been cast out and devalued as if her life is worthless. And evidence of that is that there is so much going on that could convict these friends. And there's also this missing piece of psychology I'm trying to wrap my mind around.

Nancy, have you ever planned a girls' trip? I know you've been married forever and you have your kids, but have you ever planned just to go out of town with friends? Not since I had the twins. So you tell me. Okay. Well, all the friends start texting each other. What are you going to wear? You know, are you going to pack a suitcase? Are you just going to do a carry on? You know, how long are we going to take? You know, what are the restaurants we're going to go to? There is so much communication. And to think that during that communication, these friends actually had homicidal intent towards Shankwila. This was not just an attack that happened spontaneously. These friends wanted her, so-called friends, wanted her out of the way so that the plotting, the planning, the motivation happened weeks before the homicide.

Where is all that evidence? Why don't we know much about that? And why is this lovely family attorney or lovely attorney who is there for the family, why did she have to go down and do the investigation herself? I just don't see how she can heal at all until she gets justice. I mean, I remember after my fiancé was murdered, there was, of course, the shock and the grieving, but I couldn't even start to go one step further until after the trial, which was a whole nightmare within itself. Mrs. Robinson, Shaquilla's mother, what was the argument about?

Why were they picking on her? I have no idea. First, I know everything was normal. I didn't know that they had a beef with each other. I didn't know anything about that. Mrs. Robinson, how long did it take you before you would look at that video? Well, I looked to see the people in

the video, and I still have a hard time looking at the way that she actually done my child. But I did. It took me a good, I know probably a good month before I could actually look at it. Sue Ann Robinson joining us, the lawyer for

Shankwilla's family. You can find her at frontlinefirm.com. Sue Ann, I mean, you've had to now go to Mexico and investigate. I guess now you'll have to go back to Mexico to pressure the attorney general to re-indict the case as opposed to femicide as a homicide. Is that what it's going to take? I certainly hope that I don't have to continue to do the job that the Department of Justice and the State Department is supposed to do. I'm hoping that the level of detail, including suggested charges pursuant to their own investigation that we included in the letter, you know, would be enough assistance. The issue, honestly, isn't that there's precedent, isn't that the Department of Justice doesn't know what to do, that the State Department does not

know what to do. It's not prioritized. And this just happens to be a case where justice delayed will absolutely be justice denied because every single day that goes by, evidence is being dissipated. Eyewitness testimony is being dissipated. Their memories are fading. Physical evidence is not present. And so every single day that passes, now we're in the 137th day that passes from this heinous act can lead to this case possibly never getting justice and that's not an option for the family and that's not right and it's not fair. You're so right I've had cases that lingered until the point where I've actually had witnesses die before I could get the case to trial. Irv Brandt, could you please speak in a nutshell

and tell me what's the answer? The answer is just what Attorney Robinson just said. The Mexican authorities and U.S. authorities obviously have to communicate better with each other. If Mexican authorities haven't been told that the extradition request has been denied uh because the charge is wrong then they should be informed of that and then mexican authorities should re-indict the case with the correct charge that these people can be extradited under the tree.

It's not hard, Irv. I got a mistrial on an opening statement once on a Monday where I called the child sex traffickers a pimp. They weren't charged with pimp. So there was a mistrial because I said that in an opening statement. I went back to the grand jury on Tuesday and had it re-indicted, including a misdemeanor charge of pimptom, and started with a new jury on Wednesday. It's not hard to re-indict if you want your voice to be heard. If you want justice for Shankwilla Robinson, please go to CrimeOnline.com and sign our online petition. We are sending it to Mexico authorities. We are sending it to Carolina authorities, to the attorney general in both jurisdictions and to the white house,

taking a page out of the book of Sue Ann Robinson. I want justice for Shankwilla and her mother. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.