A Los Angeles court was shown horrific images of an exploded butt-lift operation gone wrong on Tuesday as a mother and daughter's murder trial got underway. Libby Adame, 53, and her daughter Alicia Galaz are facing murder charges for allegedly causing the death of their client, Karissa Rajpaul, 26, in October 2019.
Prosecutors argued in opening statements on Tuesday, February 20, that the mother and daughter knowingly injected 'toxic' chemicals into clients during amateurish operations in the Lynwood, California area. They claimed this ultimately led aspiring porn star Rajpaul to suffer a heart attack during her third surgery with the duo in a hotel room. The court heard that the illegal surgery ring allegedly lured several women into painful procedures, as prosecutors also cited a woman who allegedly died following another of their butt lift operations in 2018, which they were not charged over. Images obtained by DailyMail show the autopsy photos of two women who died after having the procedure including Rajpaul. A woman who died earlier was shown with a huge angry rupture on one of her buttocks.
The mother and daughter allegedly offered makeshift surgeries alongside two other women, who have not been charged, as they would provide a cut-price option to expensive operations. It was claimed that they would offer in-house buttocks augmentation procedures in hotel suites and in their homes, while recklessly ignoring safety procedures. Images of brown bottles were shown to the court, which Adame and Galaz injected into their clients despite allegedly knowing of the material's toxicity.
Both women were also allegedly operating without any proper medical training and did not hold appropriate certification allowing them to practice plastic surgery. However, their defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan claimed in his opening statement that Adame trained in Mexico and was licensed there, and said the supposedly 'toxic' materials were typical in Mexico.
At earlier hearings, Flanagan argued that their murder charges were inappropriate as the count required an 'intent to kill', claiming there was 'certainly no intent to kill.'While a separate procedure was raised on Tuesday, the operation that led to their arrest came on October 15, 2019, when they gave surgery to Rajpaul for the third time. An aspiring porn star, Rajpaul had moved from South Africa to California for her work and had previously shared a clip of herself during one of the operations.
An image of the earlier procedure was also produced in court. It shows a smiling Rajpaul lying on an operating table while four women, allegedly including Adame and Galaz, and a man stood around her, none of whom were wearing surgical clothing. She suffered from acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction while on the operating table for the third time, and the mother and daughter then allegedly fled the scene while Rajpaul was rushed to hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. When the two were ordered to stand trial in March 2023, Deputy District Attorney Lee Cernok said: 'This is something that's being done by two people without a medical license... To say this is clandestine is an understatement.' At the time of their arrest, Detective Bob Dinlocker said chemicals found in the illegal materials they were injecting weren't even intended to be used in humans and can attack your heart, brain, or kidneys. 'As we looked into this investigation, we did find that it is occurring a lot,' he 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. He claimed Adame and Galaz would take supplies to private houses with no regard to typical standards and practices. It was claimed that they would lure clients by slashing their prices compared to their competitors. Adame and Galaz charged Rajpaul $3,500 to $4,000 for her operation, whereas a board-certified butt lift would run her anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000, according to NBC4.