Mother, Daughter Face Murder Charges After Illegal Butt Implant Procedure Kills Aspiring Social Media Star Karissa Rajpaul
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Two women face murder charges Monday in connection with an illegal butt implant surgery that resulted in the death of an aspiring social media star.
Libby Adame, 51, and Alicia Galaz, 23, were both arrested Aug. 5 in Riverside. The pair are a mother-and-daughter team who police say have been performing these procedures for years and recruiting clients through Instagram.
"These things are done by people with no training, there's no standards, there's no contingency if something goes wrong," LAPD Detective Robert Dinlocker said.
Police say two women performed an "outlaw buttocks augmentation procedure" on 26-year-old Karissa Rajpaul of Encino on Oct. 15, 2019. Neither woman has a medical license, and the procedure was performed in a non-medical facility, according to police. The procedure the women performed involved injecting an uncontained, liquid silicone substance into the body that can enter the blood stream and create embolisms, LAPD officials said.
"Silicone is not meant to be injected into the buttock or the breast, period. And the FDA says that," plastic surgeon Dr. John Timothy Katzen said.
The procedure had been Rajpaul's third with the two women.
Adame and Galaz called 911 to help Rajpaul, but police say they fled the scene without identifying themselves or telling the paramedics what happened so they would know how to treat her, according to the LAPD. Rajpaul died in an emergency room with doctors unaware of the silicone injection.
Rajpaul's cause of death was listed by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office as a homicide due to acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction and intramuscular/intravascular silicone injections.
Adame was released a day after her arrest after posting $1 million bail, and a court date has not been scheduled for her case. Galaz, who was released on bond two days after her arrest, is scheduled to make her first court appearance on Dec. 8.
Investigators say Adame and Galaz have been performing these procedures out of their home since at least 2012 and charge nearly $14,000 for three sessions. Other clients of Adame and Galaz have also contacted police to report they too are suffering from a range of complications due to the procedure. Anyone who believes they are a victim or has more information about the case can contact Valley Bureau Homicide detectives at (818) 374-9550.