REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KRON) — An unlicensed cosmetologist made her first appearance in a San Mateo County courtroom Monday 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 model, Christina Ashten Gourkani, 34, of San Jose, relied on aesthetic procedures to sculpt her body into an exaggerated version of Kardashian’s famous curves. Gourkani emulated the reality television star for her OnlyFans page and half a million Instagram followers.
Gomez, 50, injected the model’s buttock with silicone inside a Burlingame hotel room at San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront on April 19, prosecutors said.
Gourkani became gravely 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,” Wagstaffe told KRON4.
The Only Fans star 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.
Gourkani began her career as a fitness model before transitioning into a celebrity look-a-like entertainer, her professional website states.
The Kardashian-lookalike’s 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.”
Gomez lives in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. Just hours after the OnlyFans star died, police arrested Gomez at an airport in Broward County, Florida. She was extradited from Florida back to California last week.
According to San Mateo County jail inmate records, Gomez remained behind bars in Maple Street Correctional Center and was being held in lieu of $200,000 bail on Monday evening.
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.
Injectable silicone is not FDA approved for any aesthetic procedure, including facial and body contouring or enhancement. Injections can lead to long-term pain, infections, permanent disfigurement, embolism, stroke, and death, according to FDA officials.
Gomez operated an unlicensed cosmetologist business in Florida, the District Attorney’s Office said.
A criminal complaint filed Monday shows prosecutors are charging Gomez with two felonies, as well as a special allegation enhancement for great bodily injury. In the hours before the model died, she suffered paralysis and became comatose due to a brain injury, the complaint states.
Gomez will be back in court on Wednesday for arraignment. Gomez hired defense attorney Geoffrey Carr, who successfully defended Hillsborough Heiress Tiffany Li during a 2019 murder trial.
