Deadly Butt Injection Of PG County Woman Heads To NY Court

SUITLAND, MD — Four years after a Queens, New York, woman fled a botched buttocks enhancement procedure that led to the death of a Prince George's County woman, the person police say administered the fatal injections has been brought back to the United States from England to face homicide charges, the Queens District Attorney's office said Friday.

Donna Francis, 38, was extradited from London to stand trial on charges of criminally negligent homicide and unauthorized practice of a profession stemming from the butt enhancement procedure in a Far Rockaway, New York, basement, a massage table and silicone gel she bought on EBay, prosecutors said.

Kelly Mayhew, 34, of Suitland, Maryland died in Queens, New York. After she received the silicone injections, Mayhew went into cardiac arrest after Francis gave her the injection, prosecutors said. The victim's mom called 911 and emergency responders, who found Mayhew lying at the bottom of the stairs, rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she later died.

The injections were given in the basement apartment of a private residence in Queens, according to police. Francis, who is not a doctor, demanded a $1,600 cash payment from Mayhew, who drove up from Suitland, Maryland, with her mom for the May 30, 2015, operation, said New York prosecutors.

The cause of death, according to medical examiners, was systemic silicone emboli, which occurs when free silicone enters the bloodstream and causes a blockage.

Francis left the country the day after her client died and remained in London until her extradition earlier this week, according to prosecutors.

A GoFundMe page set up by Mayhew's family said, "she was suddenly taken from us during a medical procedure, leaving a huge void on her family."

The site of Mayhew's death was described by the New York Daily News as a home that doubled as a phony plastic surgeon's office.

Mayhew worked as a freelancer for the BET Networks, reports The Washington Post.

Mayhew's mother, Latrice, told police her daughter had undergone five previous butt enhancements. The fatal procedure was organized by a family friend.

Francis was arraigned Friday in Queens Supreme Court on the charges and ordered held without bail, said prosecutors.

She is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 27 and could face one year in prison if convicted.

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— Includes reporting by Kathleen Culliton, Patch Staff