A transgender hip-hop singer who calls herself ‘Black Madam’ may soon face charges in connection with the killing of a British student who died after a botched bottom implant.
The 42-year-old, also known as Padge-Victoria Windslowe, was about to host a ‘pumping party’ at a home in Philadelphia when she was apprehended on Wednesday night, police said.
The singer appeared in court yesterday, and is now being held on $10 million bail for charges
including aggravated assault and deceptive practices. The sizeable sum reflects police fears that Windslowe could be linked to 14 different buttock injection cases.
Officers obtained a warrant for her arrest after a 23-year-old woman nearly died of complications caused by an illegal implant allegedly made by Windslowe a few weeks ago.
The unidentified woman, reportedly an exotic dancer, was treated for a blocked artery in the lung and spent seven days in hospital.
Windslowe is a suspect in the February 2011 death of Thames Valley University student Claudia Aderotimi, who died after flying to the U.S. for a ‘butt boost’ operation.
The 20-year-old from Hackney, east London, paid $2,000 but had a heart attack after complaining of chest pains within hours of the botched silicone jab in a cheap hotel room.
Windslowe has not been charged in that case because police are still awaiting the results of a toxicology test of the injected substance.
Police placed Windslowe under surveillance when they received information that she was to host a ‘pumping party’, where women receive black market bottom implants.
Discussing the botched procedure endured by the 23-year-old, Lt John Walker, of Philadelphia police, said: ‘It’s similar to the Aderotimi case. What allegedly happened is Padge Victoria injected her, hit a blood vessel. The substance entered her bloodstream, goes through and lands in her lungs.’
Windslowe had needles, paper towels, cotton wool balls, Super Glue and a 0.6 litre water bottle containing an unknown substance on her person when she was arrested, police said.
The water bottle is believed to have contained the substance she was planning to inject during the ‘pumping party’.
Lt Walker said no injections had been administered in the house, which contained five other people at the time.
Admission to the event was believed to cost between $700 (£439) and $1,800 (£1130).
Windslowe, who has several aliases, went on the run last year – allegedly after learning that Miss Aderotimi, her ‘patient’, had died from the botched injection aimed at giving her a curvier rear.
The Briton dreamed of becoming a star dancer in raunchy hip-hop videos.
She died in hospital from liver failure just hours after the operation had been carried out.
Shortly after her death, a YouTube video emerged in which Miss Aderotimi and a friend stuff pillows down their trousers to make their bottoms appear bigger.
Detectives are said to be investigating a third case in which a 26-year-old woman was allegedly injected by Windslowe at a hotel in Mount Laurel, New Jersey in 2008. She lapsed into a coma shortly afterwards, and has suffered continuing medical problems. No charges have yet been filed.
In recent years, cases of illegal cosmetic injections causing death, disfigurement and health problems have been reported all over America, and beyond.
Solange Magnano, a 38-year-old model and former Miss Argentina, died in Buenos Aires in 2009 from complications after having cosmetic injections on her buttocks.
Investigators believe Windslowe kept herself in work using a series of ‘recruiters’ who went out in search of people who wanted buttock enhancement, reaching out to potential clients via email, blogs and face-to-face meetings.
They would then arrange a time and place to meet, usually at a hotel or private residence, and pay cash for the procedure.
Windslowe allegedly moved her operation all over the Philadelphia area in a bid to avoid detection.
The authorities said Windslowe would clean the site before injecting a substance she described as silicone into the client’s buttocks. When the pr
Police are still conducting tests on the material that Windslowe was injecting, trying to determine what it is.
She will appear in court again on March 13, and her lawyer has confirmed she intends to challenge the $10 million bail.