A Los Angeles mother and daughter have been charged with murder for allegedly giving a woman an illegal butt lift that killed her.
Libby Adame, 51, and her daughter Alicia Galaz, 23, are accused of carrying out the unauthorized cosmetic operation at a private home in the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles in September 2020.
Aspiring adult film actress Karissa Rajpaul, 26, died after receiving a third butt implant procedure performed by the duo on October 15, 2020.
Rajpaul, who had recently moved to California from South Africa to pursue her career, died at hospital on the day of the final procedure, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
(LAPD)
Her cause of death was listed as a homicide due to acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction and intramuscular/intravascular silicone injections.
Investigators believe that Adame and Galaz presented themselves as specialists, but combined substances normally used by qualified cosmetic physicians with dangerous chemicals, ABC7 reported.
“They were mixing them with chemicals and other substances that clearly are not appropriate for any medical procedure that would be performed on a human,” LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told the channel.
“These individuals have no medical training. They’re not experienced and they’re putting people’s lives at risk,” he added.
A video Rajpaul shared on social media of her undergoing one of the procedures is reportedly part of the investigation.
Authorities fear there could be other victims of these illegal procedures.
“As we looked into this investigation, we did find that it is occurring a lot,” LAPD Detective Bob Dinlocker said. “The internet is filled with these horror stories where they’re cutting the medical grade silicone with the stuff that you would caulk your windows with.”
The mom-daughter duo were both arrested on August 5, jail records show.
Adame was released the following day after posting $1 million bail, while Galaz was released on bond a day later.
Galaz is set to make her first court appearance on December 8. A court date has not yet been scheduled in Adame’s case.