An unlicensed cosmetologist appears in a San Mateo County courtroom to face charges for the death of a Kim Kardashian-lookalike model.
Vivian Alexandra Gomez is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, and practicing medicine without a certificate, for allegedly giving botched silicone injections. She did not enter a plea.
The victim was 34-year-old model Christina Ashten Gourkani, who uses aesthetic procedures to mold her body into Kardashian’s curves. Gourkani has an OnlyFans page and half a million Instagram followers.
According to prosecutors, on April 19, Gomez, 50, injected the model’s buttocks with silicone inside a Burlingame hotel room at SF’s Airport Marriott Waterfront.
Gourkani became ill, was hospitalized, and died on April 20.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the model’s desire was to “enlarge her rear end to make the victim look more like Kim Kardashian. Instead what happened is … the drug that was injected into her went right into her blood stream. It ultimately caused a pulmonary embolism, causing her death.”
The victim was accompanied by her fiancée when she met with Gomez for gluteal silicone injections. “Victim quickly fell very ill and her fiancée called 911. Victim was transported to Mills Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame where she died the next day,” prosecutors wrote.
Her professional website states Gourkani was a fitness model turned into a celebrity look-a-like entertainer.
The Kardashian-lookalike website states, “Ashten’s charismatic presence and everlasting positive energy will be missed by her family, her friends, and her millions of fans across the world.”
Hours after Gourkani’s death, Gomez was arrested at an airport in Broward County, Florida. She was deported back to California last week.
San Mateo jail inmate records show Gomez remained behind bars in Maple Street Correctional Center and held a $200,000 bail.
Gomez is an unlicensed cosmetologist, Wagstaffe said, and using injectable silicone for body contouring is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “It’s very dangerous. It’s not approved by the FDA, and even if it were, she’s not licensed to do it,” Wagstaffe said.
Gomez will be back in court on Wednesday for arraignment.
