The victim, Brenisha Hall, was one of two who were injected with silicone for cosmetic purposes by the defendant, Larry Bernard. Brenisha. a transgender beauty contestant, went into respiratory failure and entered a coma, dying on New Year’s Day.

So many desperate women have been made ill with chronic disorders, immune reactions, disfiguring and crippling injuries, and even later died as a result of “pumping parties.” And despite more legal access to transgender hormone therapy and surgery, the high cost of these still drives some to the dangerous and lethal practice.

After transgender woman’s death, probe into black-market silicone injections becomes homicide case | NOLA.com.