A Riverside County woman known as “The Butt Lady” was convicted of murder after a second client, a television actor living in Malibu, died from silicone injections she administered, authorities said.
Last year, Libby Adame was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without certification for giving Karissa Rajpaul, 26, a fatal silicone injection in the buttocks in Sherman Oaks in 2019. But the conviction did not stop her from continuing to perform unauthorized procedures in California, prosecutors said.
On March 24, he gave “ER” actress Cindyana Santangelo an injection, causing a fatal embolism.
On Thursday, a Los Angeles jury convicted Adame of second-degree murder and practicing medicine without certification, according to court records.
In his closing argument, Los Angeles County Rep. Lawyer. Lee Cernok said the judge had warned Adame at the 2024 trial that because she was aware of the dangers of her services, she could be convicted of murder if another client died, according to a City News Service report.
There is evidence to suggest that Adame was aware of the dangers of silicone butt injections even before Rajpaul and Santangelo died from the procedure.
During the 2024 trial, prosecutors said there was security camera footage of Adame fleeing a salon in South Gate in 2018 as paramedics ran through the front door to treat a woman who later died from the injections. No charges were filed in the 2018 death.
Santangelo's husband, Frank Santangelo, testified in the most recent trial and is suing Adame for wrongful death in the proceeding, which took place at their Malibu home.
He said his wife was “murdered in the prime of her life in her own home after Libby Adame, an unlicensed person who falsely represented herself as qualified to perform cosmetic procedures, illegally injected her with unsafe and unapproved substances,” according to the civil complaint.
“Tragically, his death not only could have, but should have been prevented,” he stated in the complaint. Frank Santangelo alleges that Adame fled his home as soon as he saw his wife begin to convulse.
During this week's trial, Adame's attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, denied that Adame performed the Malibu lethal injection on Cindyana Santangelo, according to City News Service.
He told jurors that his client, known as “the butt lady” or “La Tía,” worked as a consultant for doctors who can legally perform buttock injections in Mexico, but did not practice in California, according to City News Service. He maintained that someone else should have performed the injections before Adame arrived at Santangelo's home.
The jury was not swayed by this argument.
Adame was previously sentenced to four years and four months in prison for Rajpaul's death in 2019. Adame's daughter, Alicia Galaz, was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter for assisting in the 2019 proceedings and sentenced to three years and eight months in prison.
Both received credit for time already served in custody, as well as time under electronic monitoring after their arrest in 2021, which meant Adame was released from prison and back in business within a year of being sentenced.
Adame will face a significantly longer sentence for Santangelo's death.
In California, second-degree murder has a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, while practicing medicine without certification is punishable by up to three years. Adame was also found guilty of a special charge of causing great bodily harm, which adds three to six years to the sentence.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 5.
Butt silicone injections continue to gain popularity in the U.S. despite the Food and Drug Administration warning that injectable silicone for body contouring is not FDA-approved and carries serious dangers. If silicone migrates beyond the injection site, it can cause strokes, infections and death, according to the FDA.
A Florida woman is awaiting trial in California, where she is accused of giving a Kim Kardashian lookalike fatal injections in the butt.
