A Florida woman accused of administering an illegal, fatal silicone injection into a Kim Kardashian lookalike was scheduled for a trial readiness conference and jury trial assignment on Friday after many delays, San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said.  

Palm Beach, Florida resident and unlicensed cosmetologist Vivian Gomez, 53, is charged with allegations of involuntary manslaughter, practicing medicine without a license, and other crimes for the 2023 death of Christina Gourkani, 34. 

Gourkani was a Bay Area resident and social media personality with thousands of followers who allegedly met with Gomez at a Burlingame hotel room on April 19, 2023, for an illegal gluteal silicone injection. According to prosecutors, such injections are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration due to health dangers. 

Pictures of Gourkani on her Instagram account @ashtens_empire show a resemblance to Kardashian, albeit with even more exaggerated curves.  

According to Wagstaffe, Gomez flew into San Francisco and met with Gourkani and her fiancee at the Mariott in Burglingame. Gomez allegedly administered the injections into Gourkani’s rear end and she “quickly fell very ill.” Gourkani’s fiancee called 911 and she was taken to the hospital, where she died the following day due to respiratory failure and a pulmonary embolism.  

This week was the fifth setting of a jury trial since Gomez was arraigned in February 2024, Wagstaffe said. She is currently out of custody but had to surrender her U.S. and Columbian passports and can only leave the state of California if she is wearing a GPS monitor. She is barred from performing any cosmetic procedures and can be subject to a search of her person and electronic devices at any time.  

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.