by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
February 26, 2024
Whalesca Castillo, a Bronx native, was sentenced to four to eight years in prison.
Whalesca Castillo, who posed as a surgeon while performing a fatal buttock injection, was sentenced Feb. 22 by a Bronx County Superior Court judge to four to eight years in prison.
According to NBC 4, Castillo pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and another count of second-degree assault for two surgeries, one of which left a woman dead.
Although Castillo did not have a medical license and the injections were illegal, he injected the silicone syringes into Lesbia Ayala's buttocks and thighs at her Bronx home in 2017. The 48-year-old Philadelphian later died of an embolism after the procedure.
“The defendant illegally injected the victim with a silicone substance for cosmetic purposes. Tragically, the injections killed the victim,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement.
“Ever since this happened I have regretted it so much. “I’m so ashamed of myself and my family because they didn’t raise me like that,” Castillo, 49, said at the sentencing.
However, Castillo has previously been reprimanded by authorities for illegal medical procedures. She was caught in 2012 for running an unofficial cosmetic clinic. Castillo was sentenced to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, but apparently couldn't stop her, according to Law & Crime.
Ayala's family believes the sentence is too lenient for the repeat offender.
“Four years is not enough. I think it was a great injustice to my sister and my family today,” Vanessa, Ayala’s sister, told reporters after the court verdict. “This is not the first time she has done what she has done. This was her third time. The last time resulted in my sister's death. Four years is definitely not fair.”
But with this conviction, prosecutors hope Castillo's alleged decade of illegal silicone injections will come to an end.
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