Woman coughed up blood and died after botched butt injections in Texas, court docs say
A woman coughed up blood and died after receiving illegal butt injections, and a self-described beauty consultant in Houston, Texas, has been arrested, court documents show.
Lisa Fernandez, 47, was arrested Tuesday, Nov. 16, on a charge of manslaughter in the death of Marja McClendon, according to documents.
Fernandez is accused of injecting silicone, which she was not licensed to have or use, into McClendon’s buttocks in late April 2018, prosecutors say. Fernandez was aware that botched silicone injections can be fatal, court documents read.
McClendon traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to Houston to undergo the procedure, KPRC reported.
During a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 17, Fernandez said she is a “working from home beauty consultant,” TV station KTRK reported.
Fernandez began administering the injections on April 24, 2018, and during the procedure, McClendon started coughing and struggling to breathe, and said she was in pain, according to a witness, KPRC reported. The procedure had to be stopped several times.
Later that day, McClendon went to a hospital emergency room but left before she could be evaluated, KTRK reported.
Fernandez refused to give McClendon her money back, and after a verbal argument she let Fernandez finish the injections, the station reported. But after the second round of shots, McClendon started coughing up blood, KPRC said.
She died at a hospital several days later, outlets reported.
Fernandez didn’t tell medical staff about the procedure or what McClendon had been injected with, court documents show.
An autopsy later confirmed her cause of death as “complications of silicone pulmonary embolism,” KTRK reported.
Investigators verified witness accounts and the timing of McClendon’s injections through text messages on her phone, according to the station.
Fernandez was given a $40,000 bond, documents show.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Woman coughed up blood and died after botched butt injections in Texas, court docs say."