CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Mexican prosecutors have filed charges against an American woman suspected of killing another American who is seen beaten in a viral video.
Baja California Sur state prosecutors have not named the suspect in the October 29 death of Shanquella Robinson.
But on Thursday, they said they had approached Mexican federal prosecutors and diplomats to try to get the woman extradited to face charges in Mexico.
Robinson’s death at a tourist development in San José del Cabo shocked people in both countries. The video raised suspicions that Robinson may have been killed by the people he was traveling with.
Local prosecutor Antonio López Rodríguez said the case was being treated as a possible homicide and an arrest warrant had been issued for the suspect. However, the group Robinson was traveling with left Mexico after she was found dead in a rented villa.
State Attorney Daniel de la Rosa Anaya said the suspect was also an American, but did not identify her.
News outlets in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported that the people Robinson was traveling with gave different versions of how he died, but that an autopsy revealed that he died of a serious spinal cord or neck injury.
A video apparently recorded in the luxurious villa in San José del Cabo shows an apparently American woman beating another woman identified as Robinson.
The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying, “Can you at least defend yourself?” The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.