“REVOLT Black News Weekly” continues to make it its business to spotlight cases affecting Black people that the authorities and mainstream media choose to lose focus on. On Friday (April 28), global news anchor Mara S. Campo hosted a gripping episode that examined the unsolved homicide of three children in Texas nine months ago and its investigation that has yet to make an arrest. Also on the docket was the controversial practice of sentencing teenagers — who more often than not are Black or of color — as adults, the continued lack of progress in the Shanquella Robinson case, and more.
Campo opened the episode recapping the tragic killing of Zi’Ariel Robinson-Oliver, 9, A’Miyah Hughes, 8, and Te’Mari Robinson-Oliver, 5; three sisters who were reported missing from their home only to be found dead in a nearby pond in Cass County, Texas. Although the authorities initially reported the incident as a drowning, it was soon enough clear that it was homicide, with indications of strangulation on their bodies. Although the DA maintains their investigation is running fine, “RBN” dug deep and found shocking information about the crime, which may now heinously include sexual molestation.
Eight months after their deaths, the DA said the case is a homicide investigation. Although officials stated they notified the children’s mother, Shammaonique Wickerson, immediately, she told “RBN” she was not informed of it being homicide until a week later. Reportedly, her last update from authorities was on Aug. 9, 2022, and she claimed she has heard nothing since. Wickerson also said police have never interviewed her cousin, Parris Propps, who was watching the children on the night they went missing. Propps has a long criminal history that includes drug possession and weapon charges, and he hasn’t spoken to anyone about what happened. Wickerson also has three surviving children, and one of them told police she saw her sisters go in the woods with Propps.
Why is the investigation moving so slowly? Many are pointing to racial bias.
“When you get to Cass County, you don’t think you’re in 2023; you would think more of the ‘80s,” said Quanell X, a New Black Panther Nation leader from Houston who has been helping the family get answers. “It’s almost shocking when you see some of the homes where our people are living. You would not believe it’s 2023.”
He added, “I wouldn’t say Cass County is so much a sundown town; it’s by 3 o’clock, get the hell out of town.” The racial climate is “thick” said X, which makes it difficult for a poor Black family to get answers, as Black kids’ lives are not held with much value.
Moreover, young people were the victims when a Sweet 16 celebration in Alabama turned to chaos after investigators said six people opened fire, killing four (Corbin Holston, 23, aspiring musician Marsiah Emmanuel, 19, promising athlete Shaunkivia Smith, 17, and Jackson State University athletic scholarship recipient Phil Dowdell, 18) and injuring 32 others. Six young men were arrested for the crime, and three of them are teenagers. Police said they will be charged as adults. But “RBN” took a closer look at why so many teens are charged and convicted as adults.
Two of the accused shooters — 17 and 16-year-old Ty Reik and Travis McCullough, respectively, both of Tuskegee — are being charged as adults for reckless murder. In Alabama, anyone over 16 facing murder charges is automatically moved out of the juvenile system.
“Based on the facts that are out there right now, it sounds like a case where there would be justification for charging them as adults,” said lawyer Greg Griffin Jr. “It was calculated, it was cold, it was premeditated. Based on the facts that I do now, the former prosecutor in me is saying to a certain extent, you have to protect the community. If you have someone out here that just lets out on 32 people, that’s a lot to swallow.”
While the charges in this case may seem justified, it’s not always so cut and dry. Even though Black kids are approximately 14 percent of the population, they make up 47 percent of those transferred to adult court as juveniles, per the Campaign for Youth Service. In Florida, it was even higher at 61 percent in 2021. The first juvenile court was actually created in 1899 with the purpose of rehabilitating kids, not just punishing them. But in the ’90s, crime soared, and rehabilitation took a backseat to punishment. Although the number of teens charged as adults has lowered, those in the system often don’t get the necessary mental health resources they may need out of fear for their potentially disruptive behavior.
“Prison and charging young people as adults has been a solution for a long time, and we’re at a point where we’re still seeing gun violence,” said Andre Simms, who did an eight-year bid after being convicted of murder as a teen. “At what point as a society, as a country are we going to say, ‘OK, this doesn’t work’? Locking kids up is not working, we need to find a real solution. It’s not justice for anybody because all it does is cause more harm, and it actually prevents the restoration of our community… the restoration of our society.”
Justice is necessary in any society, but it continues to evade Shanquella Robinson. U.S. officials recently said they would not be prosecuting anyone for the death of the North Carolina native, who was killed in Mexico during a vacation with associates Daejhanae Jackson, Nazeer Wiggins, Alysse Hyatt, Wenter Donovan, Malik Dyer, and Khalil Cooke — aka the Cabo Six. “RBN” has extensively covered Robinson’s death. She was seen being beaten on video after her friends reportedly told her family she passed away due to alcohol poisoning. An initial autopsy indicated her spinal cord was injured and she suffered a broken neck. Unfortunately, a second autopsy, which was conducted after her body had been embalmed, was inconclusive. Her family is not giving up on seeking accountability for her demise, and they plan to march to the White House in May.
But there may be more to Robinson’s death that the public doesn’t know about yet. “The only surveillance footage I’ve seen is the 17-second fight that took place inside the hotel room,” said Phil Carson, a private investigator and former FBI agent. “This is a high-end resort. There’s surveillance cameras everywhere. So there’s gotta be a lot of surveillance footage of what went on during the day, what went on in the evening. Possibly, were they drinking in the hotel, or the lobby or any restaurants? Who she was having contact with or anything like that?”
Unfortunately, whether or not that potential footage still exists is in question. “To me, there has to be more video of that fight or something else had to take place after that fight,” continued Carson. The United States does have an extradition treaty with Mexico and someone killed Robinson. Many are demanding Jackson, the woman seen beating on her in the viral video, be held accountable.
On the pop culture and entertainment front, correspondent Kennedy Rue took a look at Hollywood’s Black female renaissance when it comes to performing and artistry. She spoke to actress Gabrielle Dennis and comedienne Robin Thede of HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show” as well as Yara Shahidi, who is starring in Peter Pan and Wendy, for their first-hand accounts of the trend.
Be sure to catch new installments of “REVOLT Black News Weekly” every Friday at 5 p.m. ET via REVOLT’s app. Plus, watch a quick clip from Friday’s installment below.
WATCH
Halle Bailey’s The Little Mermaid & Yara Shahidi As Tinkerbell: Hollywood’s Black Women Renaissance
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