Silicone Butt Injections Death Leads to Federal Charges

A man already facing a state murder charge after he reportedly injected a woman’s buttocks with silicone to increase their size – a procedure which the medical examiner says killed her – has been indicted on federal charges of mishandling silicone.

A federal grand jury indicted Vinnie Lysander Taylor, 44, of Wilmington, NC, Monday on nine charges of receiving and selling industrial grade silicone, but representing to customers that it was medical grade silicone.

Prince George’s County authorities say Taylor was at a Capitol Heights hotel on March 20, 2014, where he gave a woman silicone injections. She became ill and later died at a local hospital, Patch earlier reported.

Investigators say they have found no evidence that Taylor had any medical training. The county state’s attorney’s office says Taylor’s murder trial is scheduled for February.

Prince George’s County Police on Dec. 10 obtained an arrest warrant for Taylor charging him with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and reckless endangerment.

In another fatal injection case with a Prince George’s County connection, Kelly Mayhew, 34, of Suitland, died May 30, 2015, in Queens, NY. After she received the silicone injections Mayhew had trouble breathing, her mother began CPR and called 911. The woman who administered the shots then fled, police said.

The injections were given in the basement apartment of a private residence in Queens, according to police.

There is no indication that Taylor is linked to the Mayhew case.

The new federal indictment alleges that Taylor obtained food grade liquid silicone which was produced as a lubricant and release agent in food processing and shipment. Taylor traveled to Prince George’s County and elsewhere, where seven customers paid him to inject the silicone into their buttocks.

According to the indictment, from roughly Sept. 30, 2008, through Dec. 2, 2014, Taylor ordered about 180 gallons of liquid silicone with the company that produced the food grade liquid silicone. Taylor stored the liquid silicone in plastic bottles that were not labeled nor approved by federal authroties for that purpose. Therefore, the liquid silicone was adulterated and misbranded, federal authorities say.

The indictment alleges that Taylor, who was not a licensed medical practitioner, told customers and victims the procedure was safe and that he used medical grade silicone, which it was not. Between September 2013 and September 2014, Taylor allegedly injected seven women in Prince George’s County with food grade liquid silicone in exchange for pay. 

Taylor faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison for each of nine counts of receipt of a misbranded and adulterated device for delivery for pay with intent to defraud or mislead. An initial appearance has not yet been scheduled for Taylor.

He is currently detained on the state charges.

»Photo of suspect Vinnie Taylor, courtesy of Prince George’s County Police