Mother, daughter plead not guilty to murder after a woman reportedly died following an illegal buttocks augmentation

A mother and daughter in California have pled not guilty to murder after a woman reportedly died following an illegal buttocks augmentation police say the two women performed on her.

Libby Adame, 52, and her daughter, Alicia Galaz, 24, have been charged with murder in the 2019 death of Karissa Rajpaul. At that time, Rajpaul had just recently moved to Los Angeles from South Africa in hopes of making a career for herself in the porn industry. In order to enhance her prospects, Rajpaul had supposedly paid Adame and Galaz to perform three buttocks augmentation procedures on her.

Complications allegedly arose during the third and final procedure, performed in October 2019. When Adame and Galaz understood that Rajpaul was in medical distress, they allegedly called 911. However, police say that they fled the scene before EMTs could arrive and that "the victim died in an emergency room with tending physicians unaware of the silicone injection."

According to police, Adame and Galaz had injected Rajpaul with "an uncontained, liquid silicone substance directly into the buttocks to make the buttocks look fuller." When injected directly into the body, "uncontained silicone ... can enter the blood stream and create embolisms which can result in serious illness or death."

The L.A. coroner's office claimed that Rajpaul died from acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction and intramuscular/intravascular silicone injections.

As neither Adame nor Galaz is a licensed medical professional, they are not legally permitted to perform any type of medical procedure. Police say that the two advertised their services on Instagram and performed the surgery-like cosmetic procedure out of a private residence in Encino, California. Though most professionals charge about $15,000 for a buttocks augmentation, Adame and Galaz supposedly charged between $3,500 and $4,500 cash.

Both Adame and Galaz were arrested in Riverside in August 2021 and charged with murder, as well as three counts each of practicing medicine without certification. On Tuesday, both women pled not guilty. They remain free on bond as they await their next scheduled court appearance on November 3, at which time a preliminary hearing will be held to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed with the case against them.