Cosmetic Procedure Botched; Trans Woman Arrested

A Florida transgender woman is accused of injecting another woman with a near-deadly mix of cement, mineral oil, tire sealant, and Super Glue in an attempted buttocks augmentation procedure.

Oneal Ron Morris (pictured), arrested Friday in Miami Gardens, is charged with practicing medicine without a license and causing great bodily injury, a second-degree felony, The Miami Herald reports. Police say the victim, whose name is being kept confidential because of medical privacy laws, was injected with the toxic concoction in May 2010. She began feeling ill soon afterward, and as the mixture spread throughout her body, she developed pneumonia-like symptoms and large red welts on her derriere. She was hospitalized and nearly died.

"In a world where body image is in the forefront of our media, this woman, for whatever reason, thought that this was the answer and she almost lost her life," Miami Gardens detective Michael Dillon told the paper. The woman still has health problems and is undergoing treatment.

The police investigation went on for over a year, partly because the victim was embarrassed about coming forward. It also took several months for officers to track down Morris, who managed to be absent whenever they showed up at her residence.

When they did find her, they were "shocked" by her appearance, the Herald reports, as her own buttocks were hugely distorted. "It's not clear whether Morris was a victim of her own concoctions," the paper notes, adding, "Investigators suspect she is part of an underground network of scam artists who have been offering 'pumping parties' and home buttocks augmentations across South Florida for years."