So Sad: Popular St. Louis Skripper Dies From Botched Butt Injections

St. Louis Woman Dies From Back Market Butt Injections

Police are working to find out if the death of Daysha Phillips, a 22-year-old exotic dancer in St. Louis, is linked to the death of a Dallas woman. Both women are believed to have been given illegal butt injections by a transgender woman and her accomplice.

The Dallas News reports:

Authorities in the St. Louis area are investigating the death of a woman who received illegal buttocks injections and said there could be a link to a similar Dallas case.

Daysha Phillips, 22, died Thursday, four days after she went with three other women to a hotel near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport for the buttocks-enhancing procedure, said her aunt, Marie Cooper.

On Tuesday, police in Edmundson, Mo., said they contacted Dallas investigators about the possible involvement of Denise “Wee Wee” Ross, 43, who was arrested on a murder charge in the February death of a Dallas woman. Ross has been out on bond since June 11. Ross’ attorney, Demarcus Ward, could not be reached for comment.

Hurocy said the detective was still early in his investigation and was reviewing dozens of hours of surveillance video. Hurocy said police hadn’t confirmed the identities of suspects involved. He said police believe there were at least two suspects, both female.

Hurocy said his detective researched the Dallas case, in which Ross and a transgender woman, Jimmy “Alicia” Clarke, are accused of fatally injecting Wykesha Reid, 34, whose body was found in a Deep Ellum salon Feb. 19.

Ross and Clarke, 32, have each been indicted on a murder charge in Reid’s death. They are also charged with practicing medicine without a license in another case, in which a woman told police they injected her buttocks for $520, causing her extreme pain, then closed up the sites with Super Glue and cotton balls.

An autopsy showed Reid died of pulmonary silicone embolization stemming from the cosmetic procedure. The medical examiner’s finding means the silicone somehow entered Reid’s veins, traveled through her heart and ended up trapped in her lungs, medical experts have said.

Comparing the Dallas case with the St. Louis-area case, “a lot of things looked the same, a lot of the same characteristics,” Hurocy said.

Phillips went to the hotel with three other women, one of whom backed out of the procedure, said Cooper. She said her niece had undergone the procedure before. Cooper said the person performing the butt-enhancing procedure charged approximately $300 per person.

Soon after, Phillips fell ill and suffered a cardiac arrest, Cooper said. “They heard her moaning and gasping for air, wide-eyed … like a rag doll,” she said. Phillips was taken to Christian Hospital and later transferred to another hospital, where she died.

“We are reaching out and grasping right now to see what we can do to bring knowledge to this situation so nobody else winds up in this kind of condition,” Cooper said. “People do need to talk about this. It’s happening everywhere. … I want people to take this seriously.”