Massage therapist arrested 'for performing vampire facials without license' after woman dies while receiving beauty treatment
- Hamilet Suarez, 36, died of a heart attack after getting cosmetic injections
- Sandra Gonzalez, 45, was arrested for possessing a controlled substance
- Gonzalez was offering 'butt augmentation' and 'vampire face-lifts'
- Treatment sees patient's own blood is injected to reduce wrinkles
- Police are investigating if drugs used during beauty treatment were fatal
PUBLISHED: 09:01 GMT, 14 February 2014 | UPDATED: 15:24 GMT, 14 February 2014
Probe: Police arrested massage therapist Sandra Gonzalez after a woman died following a cosmetic treatment at her salon
A massage therapist who advertised 'vampire face-lifts' and other cosmetic procedures she was not licensed to perform has been arrested after a woman died following a beauty treatment.
Sandra Gonzalez, 45, of Los Angeles, California, was arrested by homicide detectives after patient Hamilet Suarez, 36, suffered a heart attack within minutes of receiving cosmetic injections.
The death, linked to the procedure at the Southern California beauty salon, is being treated as suspicious, police said.
Ms Suarez was being treated at Areli's Barber Shop & Beauty Salon where Gonzalez rents a room when she went into cardiac arrest, police said.
Paramedics arrived and took her to a hospital, where she was later declared dead.
Investigators at the salon found medical equipment and controlled substances used for cosmetic procedures that Gonzalez was advertising but not licensed to perform, police said.
They included 'butt augmentation,' 'lip augmentation,' and 'vampire face-lifts,' where a gel-like substance derived from the patient's own blood is injected to reduce wrinkles.
So-called 'vampire facials' were made famous by a string of celebrities. Kim Kardashian was filmed undergoing the procedure for her reality show.
A large needle drew blood from her arm before the sample was spun in a machine to remove the platelets
The blood was then splattered into Kim's face using nine tiny little acupuncture-style needles.
Results: Kim Kardashian shows off the results of her 'vampire facial' to her Twitter followers
Gonzalez has been performing the procedures at the salon for about a month and may have been practicing previously elsewhere, police said.
Gonzalez, remained jailed on $10,000 bail Thursday night on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance.
She was under investigation by homicide detectives with assistance from the California Medical Board and the Los Angeles County coroner's office, Long Beach police said in a statement.
Police would not immediately say what procedure Suarez was having done or what may have killed her.
'Until the report comes back from the coroner, we can't determine if it was the procedure or if any drugs possibly administered caused her death,' police Sgt. Megan Zabel told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Police urged any other patients to contact both police and their doctor.
Police did not know if Gonzalez had hired an attorney. After-hours phone messages left at the salon and a number listed in her name were not immediately returned.
