Unlicensed Mother, Daughter Accused Of Murder After Botched Butt Lift
Libby Adame and Alicia Galaz allegedly recruited new clients on Instagram and charged $14,000 for three sessions, police say.
LAPD via screenshot from CBS News Los Angeles
A mother and daughter in California were recently arrested and accused of illegally performing a butt augmentation that killed a woman two years ago, police said.
On October 15, 2019, Karissa Rajpaul, a 26-year-old aspiring adult film actress who moved to Los Angeles from South Africa, allegedly underwent her third and final cosmetic procedure at the Encino home of Libby Adame, 51, and 23-year-old Alicia Galaz.
After the procedure, Rajpaul suffered life-threatening complications. Adame and Galaz phoned 911 but allegedly left the scene without relaying critical information about the surgery to emergency responders, and Rajpaul passed away at an area hospital, KCBS-TV reported.
“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.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office ruled Rujpaul’s death a homicide due to acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction and intramuscular/intravascular silicone injections.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told KABC-TV the unlicensed mother and daughter allegedly injected Rajpaul with medically approved substances used in cosmetic surgeries but “were mixing them with chemicals and other substances that clearly are not appropriate for any medical procedure that would be performed on a human.”
“These individuals have no medical training,” Hamilton added. “They're not experienced and they're putting people's lives at risk.”
On August 5, 2021, Adame and Galaz, who investigators alleged charged $14,000 for three sessions and used Instagram to recruit new clients, were taken into custody in Riverside on suspicion of murder.
Adame posted $1 million bail and was released. Galaz also bonded out and is scheduled to appear in court on December 8.
Authorities are now trying to determine if there are additional victims who may have been disfigured or died as a result of botched cosmetic procedures at the hands of the pair, Hamilton said.
Anyone who may have additional information on possible victims or are relatives of victims should contact LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.lacrimestoppers.org.
