Attorneys for the family of a North Carolina killed on vacation in Mexico revealed the name of a friend suspected in the mysterious death – and are calling on President Joe Biden to have her extradited to Mexico.
Mexican authorities have an arrest warrant out for U.S. citizen Daejhanae Jackson, 26, related to the October 2022 death of hairdresser Shanquella Robinson in Cabo San Lucas, attorneys said in a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken obtained by Fox News Digital.
"On behalf of the family of Shanquella Robinson, we write to request immediate diplomatic intervention from the United States Government in this transnational criminal case," said the letter from attorneys Benjamin L. Crump and Sue-Ann Robinson, no relation.
A witness identified Jackson as the woman seen in a social media video attacking Robinson inside the villa that travel mates were sharing in a luxury villa, the letter said.
"An autopsy report prepared on October 30th, 2022 in Mexico by Medical Examiner Dr. Rene Adalberto Galvaan Osegura noted that Shanquella’s body had a head injury 3 and concluded that Shanquella’s cause of death was a broken neck," the letter stated.
RALLY HELD FOR SHANQUELLA ROBINSON; FATHER DESCRIBES MOMENT HE SAW HER BODY: 'ALL I WANT IS JUSTICE'
"The President or the Secretary of State must step in and ask: for the extradition of the suspect or suspects or concurrent jurisdiction and file charges in the United States," the attorneys said in a press release.
The letter explained that Jackson and two other travel mates, Khalil Cooke and Wenter Donovan, took Robinson’s luggage back to her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, and gave condolences to Robinson’s mother, claiming her daughter had died from alcohol poisoning.
Once the video surfaced in November, a femicide investigation was launched by Mexican officials, and the lawyers for Robinson's family are asking the Biden administration to step in.
The 18-page document sent to the Biden administration said Jackson was the main point of contact for the group's seven travel companions. Robinson "did not seem to fit in with the others" and seemed "out of place" the day before receiving a call from Jackson that Robinson had suffered alcohol poisoning in the room, the letter alleges.
The letter included the witness statement, from a hotel staff member, identifying Jackson as the aggressor in the video posted on social media. The witness said in a statement that Jackson "manipulated me" with the information she initially provided at the scene in order to "leave the country as soon as possible."
Robinson was declared dead after two sets of medical professionals responded over the course of several hours. The staff member said that Jackson gave him an "indifferent" hug when he offered his condolences and claimed he heard "laughing" from the room after he walked out in order to give the friends space.
THREE WOMEN MISSING IN MEXICO AFTER CROSSING BORDER FROM TEXAS TO SELL CLOTHING AT FLEA MARKET
The group abruptly left the hotel a day later, on Oct. 30, and Jackson didn't respond to a text message asking where she was until Oct. 31, when she informed the staff member the group was gone, the witness statement said.
"If a United States citizen commits homicide in Mexico and returns back to the United States, as you are aware they can face criminal charges in the United States under federal law or state law, depending on the circumstances of the crime," Robinson's attorneys said in the letter.
"Federal charges are brought in cases where the crime involves interstate commerce or federal law enforcement agencies," the attorneys added. "We know in a transnational case where evidence was possibly transported and persons of interest communicated with each other via cellphone federal charges could be brought against those responsible for Shanquella’s death."
The letter said that the family has encountered "numerous obstacles" trying to get information, including during a trip to Mexico where attorney Robinson said the U.S. consulate suggested relatives should reach out directly to the travel mates if they want answers.
"Certainly this is an unacceptable response to share with an American family in regards to their daughter's murder," attorney Robinson said.
The State Department told Fox News Digital on Sunday that it has "no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas but does not comment on American citizens' private correspondence as a general matter of privacy."
"The Department does not provide confirmation of, or commentary on, investigations due to privacy and law enforcement considerations," the statement said. "Also, as a matter of long-standing practice, the Department also does not comment on extradition matters."
The letter noted the "swift concurrent response" between U.S. and Mexican authorities when four Americans were recently kidnapped in Matamoros, Mexico, while calling for an extradition of Jackson to Mexico and urging U.S. authorities to "request concurrent jurisdiction with Mexican law enforcement agencies which would permit U.S. prosecutors to bring the case in the United States as the involved parties are U.S. Citizens."
