Miss. jury finds woman guilty of murder in silicone injection case

JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi woman was convicted Friday of murder in connection to illicit silicone buttocks injections that led to a Georgia woman's death.

The state attorney general's office said in a statement that a jury deliberated about five hours before finding Tracy Lynn Garner, 54, guilty of depraved-heart murder and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the 2012 death of Karima Gordon, 37. The murder conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"We felt confident that the evidence would lead to a conviction," said Attorney General Jim Hood in a statement. "We hope this verdict will deliver some sense of justice for Ms. Gordon's family."

Judge Winston Kidd set sentencing for Tuesday. Garner was immediately taken into custody after the verdict was read.

Her attorney, John M. Collette, in an email, said he could not comment on the case because a gag order remained in effect.

Gordon, an Atlanta-area resident, died eight days after receiving the injections in 2012.

Prosecutors said Gordon's death was caused by injections that Garner administered. They said Gordon was referred to Garner by Natasha Stewart, an adult entertainer also known as Pebbelz Da Model. Stewart was convicted of manslaughter in February and is serving a seven-year prison sentence.

The prosecution said Stewart told Gordon that Garner was a nurse, but Garner had no medical training and was not licensed to perform the procedure.

During the trial, Colette suggested that Gordon wanted exactly what Garner had to offer.

"She wanted this underground, bargain basement butt enhancement," Colette said.

He also stated that Gordon had other injections that could have caused her death, and argued that the silicone found in Gordon's body didn't match silicone seized from Garner's Jackson home.

"We don't know how much she'd gotten before she ever came to Mississippi," Colette said. "What silicone caused her death?"

Authorities initially identified Garner as a man, Morris Garner, after the arrest. Her attorney has said Garner was born male and had sex reassignment surgery.

Garner still faces similar charges in the 2010 death of Marilyn Hale, of Selma, Alabama. The trial date in that case has not yet been set.