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A rally for justice in the Shanquella Robinson case is being held this weekend in uptown Charlotte, where community members and family members of the slain young women will come together in the 25-year-old’s name.
The Million Youth March of Charlotte and Salisbury announced the plans to hold a rally this weekend.
A little over a month ago, Robinson was killed on a trip to Mexico with friends. Authorities there have said there is an arrest warrant issued in the case, however police have yet to make any arrests as of Friday.
On Wednesday, Shanquella’s sister said the prison time is the only justice the family will accept for whoever is responsible for her death.
“Everybody being arrested and doing time in Mexico. Everybody being extradited over there and doing their time there. That would be justice for us as of now,” Quilla Long said.
The rally will be held on Saturday at the Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church in Charlotte and is set to begin at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, the family says they are still waiting for word of an arrest in her murder, as experts warn that “political issues” will likely stand in the way of extradition.
Two weeks ago, Mexican authorities issued an arrest warrant for an unnamed suspect in Robinson’s death, which was determined to be from a “direct attack.”
However, a so-called red notice from Interpol has yet to be issued for the suspect, although Mexican officials have requested that the person be extradited from the U.S. to Mexico to face charges, according to the Charlotte Observer reported.
The two countries have had an extradition treaty in place since 1978.
The U.S. Justice Department is currently investigating the request. The next stop will then to have the request forwarded to the State Department for final approval.
But final approval doesn’t mean immediate action, as the issue is more “political” that legal, says criminal defense lawyer Dmitriy Shakhnevich, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
“More often than not,” the US will comply with an extradition request from a country with which it has a treaty.
“If the authorities here in the US deem it appropriate, then they will pursue the people for whom the arrest warrant was issued,” Shakhnevich told the paper.
Shakhnevich went on to say that the process involves going through the federal accounts and secretary of state.
“And then those people will engage in a legal process here in the US, which involves going through the federal courts and then ultimately appealing (the extradition decision) … to the secretary of state,” he added.
Before US authorities arrest someone wanted in another country, the FBI must investigate to determine if there is “sufficient cause” for the person to be extradited, according to the Observer.
The treaty “means that we are understanding of each others legal processes,” Shakhnevich said.
“But again, the whole purpose of the treaty is so one country doesn’t really question the other, right,” Shakhnevich explained. “The treaty means that we are understanding of each other’s legal processes such that if we come to a decision, then that decision must be abided by.”
The FBI has confirmed that an investigation is ongoing, but did not release any further details.
Robinson‘s grieving mother Salamondra blasted the FBI over their lack of progress in her daughter’s murder case and the lack of information she’s been provided with as days turn into weeks following the 25-year-old’s death at a Mexican resort, The Shade Room previously reported. A celebration of life ceremony was celebrated by hundreds of people last month.
