Kim Kardashian Look-Alike Dies After Botched Injection in Hotel
An unlicensed woman was charged after the social media model died last month.
A California social media influencer and Kim Kardashian look-alike died last month after receiving cosmetic surgery injections from an unlicensed Florida woman. According to San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe, Christina Ashten Gourkani, 34, of Burlingame, California, died April 20, a day after receiving injections from Vivian Gomez, 50, of Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Gomez was charged with involuntary manslaughter and practicing medicine without certification, court documents showed. Here's what you need to know about this tragic case.
Gourkani, who went by "Ashten," was a licensed insurance agent and social media model with about 140,000 Instagram and 200,000 Twitter followers. Gourkani described herself as a fan of celebrity Kim Kardashian and adopted a look that resembled and exaggerated Kardashian.
"Some of us fill our bodies with drugs, some of us with alcohol, some with unhealthy foods, some with stress, others with toxic abusive relationships," she said on Twitter. "I fill my body with some plastic and a lot of love."
Gourkani hired Gomez to enhance her buttocks with injections. Gomez does not have a medical license, authorities said.
Gomez traveled to a Burlingame hotel and gave Gourkani "several injections" on April 19, Wagstaffe said. Gourkani believed the injections to be silicone, but it's not clear if they were, he added. Prosecutors await a coroner's report and toxicology.
Gourkani began having health issues shortly after the procedure, according to her family's GoFundMe page. She died in the early hours of April 20 from cardiac arrest, the family said. Police arrested Gomez at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida, on April 21.
Wagstaffe seeks to extradite Gomez to San Mateo County. She is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Monday. Gourkani's family raised about $6,600 through GoFundMe to pay medical and funeral expenses.