What the U.S. autopsy of Shanquella Robinson says about alcohol, her injuries

Lab officials in Mexico told a Charlotte-based doctor performing a new autopsy on Shanquella Robinson that no alcohol was found in the 25-year-old woman’s blood, tested after her death.

This latest autopsy was ordered by the FBI the month after Robinson’s death. The findings from this autopsy led the Department of Justice to announce earlier this month that it will not pursue criminal charges in her case.

Robinson, a Charlotte native, died under suspicious circumstances in Cabo, Mexico on Oct. 29. Her death has been investigated as a possible homicide. She was on a trip with six other people, some of whom told her mother Robinson died of alcohol poisoning.

Previously, the autopsy report resulting from Mexico’s investigation did not mention blood-alcohol content but notes blood samples were taken.

The U.S. autopsy — obtained this week via a public records request by The Charlotte Observer — was conducted by the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and includes findings from Mexico’s toxicology screening.

The secondary autopsy in the U.S. revealed a major discrepancy with the findings in an autopsy performed during Mexican authorities’ investigation. As The Charlotte Observer has reported previously, Mexico’s autopsy concluded Robinson died of “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation.”

Forensic Pathologist Dr. Thomas Owens conducted the examination in Charlotte on Nov. 17. This autopsy says there were no injuries to Robinson’s spinal cord. Overall Robinson’s cause of death was ruled undetermined.

Lawyers for Robinson’s family, Sue-Ann Robinson (not related) and Benjamin Crump, said in a statement the discrepancies between the two autopsies can be attributed to a delay by U.S. investigators who did not examine the body until after it had been embalmed.

“When an investigation is delayed, the hard evidence to support prosecution diminishes, but in this case, that is due to the U.S. not considering this case to be a high priority,” Crump and Robinson wrote.

Owens pointed out in his report that the autopsy conducted by Mexican officials was limited because Robinson’s spine was not fully visualized or properly inspected, which may explain the discrepancy in the two reports.

Owens also noted that too much time had passed before the toxicology screening to know whether Robinson had residual alcohol in her system from the night before her death.

The FBI completed its investigation earlier this month and said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to pursue federal charges against the person Mexico prosecutors say is a suspect.

“I was not surprised (but the FBI decision) but I was sickened,” said Donnell Gardner, who attended a gathering in Charlotte Wednesday afternoon, where participants again called for an arrest to be made in the case. Gardner said his son was friends with Robinson. He remembers her coming to his home before school some mornings.

“She was very motivated, she was very different,” he said of Robinson. “As they say, she was the boss. She created her own lane. She was very smart.”

U.S. autopsy of Shanquella Robinson

The autopsy report by Dr. Owens says Robinson had reportedly consumed heavy amounts of alcohol the night before she died.

However, handwritten notes and toxicology reports from both Mexico and the U.S. say no alcohol — tested for as ethanol — was found in Robinson’s blood.

Owens calls the autopsy performed in Mexico “limited” and mentions that because Robinson did not die at a hospital, it is unclear what her alcohol content was leading up to her death.

The report says Robinson was “assaulted” at approximately 7:30 a.m. the day she died. Part of this assault was captured on a video that has gone viral and sparked international outrage over her death. The video shows a naked, barely verbal Robinson being hit repeatedly over the head.

In police records released by lawyers for Robinson’s family, authorities identify Daejhanae Jackson as a suspect after talking with two employees at the Cabo vacation villa the group stayed in. Mexican authorities have issued an arrest warrant for femicide (similar to homicide) for Jackson, according to lawyers Benjamin Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson.

But U.S. authorities have made it clear no one will face federal criminal charges for Robinson’s death. To date, no U.S. law enforcement or government official has acknowledged by name a suspect. Whether Mexico is still seeking extradition is unclear.

The FBI would not comment on why the video of Robinson being beaten before her death was not considered enough evidence of a crime being committed but said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer: “All available evidence was reviewed.”

Owens’ report says Robinson returned to her room following the assault and was found unconscious by a housekeeper just before noon.

Owens’ report raises the possibility that blunt force trauma from the earlier assault may have caused a concussion, which would have altered Robinson’s level of consciousness and possibly led to her passing out in the bathroom.

The autopsy found injuries on Robinson including a 2.5 by 2.5 inch bruise on her forehead and broken blood vessels in her eye. This injury could be attributed to Robinson falling when she was unconscious in the bathroom or due to assault, Owens wrote.

Her arms were covered in scratches and bruises, her right leg and her lower abdomen were covered in abrasions, and there were traces of vomit in her throat, the report said.

The U.S. autopsy found no injuries to Robinson’s spine, but it did find a hypoxic-ishemic brain injury. This injury can occur when someone goes into cardiac arrest, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Initially, a police report in Mexico — taken the day Robinson died and including statements from a doctor who tried to save her — stated she died after having seizures and going into cardiac arrest.

Reports and interviews from investigators in Mexico and notes in Owens’ report indicate that the six travelers who were with Robinson when she died called for medical help in the afternoon and said she “drank too much alcohol.”

Before they called for medical help, a housekeeper told them she found Robinson laying face down on the bathroom floor.

The doctor who responded said Robinson was minimally responsive and clearly dehydrated, according to Owens’ report. As the doctor attempted an IV to re-hydrate her, Robinson began convulsing and went into a full cardiac arrest. Multiple rounds of CPR were unsuccessful.