The death of a Maryland woman found unresponsive after receiving a cosmetic procedure from an unlicensed plastic surgeon to enlarge her buttocks in New York City earlier this year has been ruled a homicide, the medical examiner's office confirmed to NBC 4 New York Wednesday.
Kelly Mayhew, 34, of Suitland, Maryland, was found unconscious in a Queens home May 30 after receiving the cosmetic procedure, police said. Mayhew, who worked for media company BET, had driven to Far Rockaway earlier that day with her mother for the procedure.
According to Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for the city's medical examiner, Mayhew died from "systemic silicone emboli due to cosmetic silicone injections of buttocks."
The unlicensed doctor had agreed to perform the procedure after being contacted by Mayhew's friend, her mother, Latrice Mayhew, said.
Latrice Mayhew told NBC 4 New York the woman administering the procedure "panicked."
"I thought she was a doctor and certified," she said.
After receiving silicone injections in her buttocks, Mayhew started having difficulty breathing, her mother told police, the Daily News previously reported. Her mother began to perform CPR, but the suspect ran from the house and fled in a gray SUV, the Daily News reported.
Mayhew was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The unlicensed doctor has not been publicly identified. The NYPD told the News Wednesday no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Last year, a 28-year-old New York City woman died in a similar botched butt injection performed at a Meatpacking District hotel. The suspect, 22-year-old Tamara Blaine, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault.
