A mother and daughter who posed as plastic surgery specialists were each charged with murder in connection to the death of an aspiring adult film actress following a botched procedure, NBC News reports.
Libby Adame, 51, and Alicia Galaz, 23, were arrested early last month after 26-year-old Karissa Rajpaul was pronounced dead at a local hospital following a procedure performed in an Encino home in October 2019. Rajpaul underwent butt augmentation in which she received injections containing questionable substances.
“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 said, per KABC. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruled Rajpaul’s death a homicide due to acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction and intramuscular/intravascular silicone injections.
“These individuals have no medical training,” Hamilton said of Adame and Gomez. “They’re not experienced and they’re putting people’s lives at risk.” Investigators have since reached out to other people who potentially suffered long-term health issues as a result of the mother and daughter duo, who have been involved in this illegal business since at least 2012.
“As we looked into this investigation, we did find that it is occurring a lot,” LAPD Det. Robert 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.”
