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Florida woman makes court appearance in botched illegal cosmetic procedure death

Florida woman makes court appearance in botched illegal cosmetic procedure death
Florida woman makes court appearance in botched illegal cosmetic procedure death 00:54

REDWOOD CITY – A Florida woman is facing a pair of felony charges for what San Mateo County prosecutors say is her role in the death of a Kim Kardashian lookalike following an illegal cosmetic procedure. 

Vivian Alexandra Gomez, a 50-year-old Royal Palm Beach resident, allegedly operated an illegal cosmetologist business in Florida and was hired online by Christina Gourkani, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

fatal botched cosmetic procedure defendant
Fatal botched cosmetic procedure defendant Vivian Alexandra Gomez. CBS

On April 19, Gomez flew into San Francisco and then met Gourkani and her fiancee at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront in Burlingame, where she allegedly gave Gourkani an "illegal gluteal silicone injection," prosecutors said.

After the injections, Gourkani "quickly fell very ill" and was taken to the Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, where she died the next day from respiratory failure and a pulmonary embolism.

Gomez was later arrested in Florida and returned to San Mateo County, where she is being held on $200,000 bail at the Maple Street Correctional Center on charges of practicing medicine without a license and involuntary manslaughter. 

She made her initial appearance in court Monday but did not enter a plea. She scheduled to return Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City.

Gomez's defense attorney was not immediately available to comment on the case.

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