November 30, 2011
MIAMI (AFP) - Oneal Ron Morris claimed to be a plastic surgeon and allegedly offered low-cost household operations to sculpt sexy buttocks, fuller cheeks and luscious lips for clients in the US state of Florida.
The "doctor" however was a fake, using a dangerous mix of cement, an aerosol for flat tires and Super Glue to get results.
Embarrassed victims have begun to emerge and are helping investigators gather evidence against Morris, a man who lives as a woman and apparently injected himself with the same toxic mix.
"We have continued to receive calls from several victims... many of them transsexuals, but for now there are two cases confirmed," William Bamford, spokesman for the Miami Gardens Police Department, told AFP on Tuesday.
After a lengthy police search, Morris and his assistant, identified as Corey Alexander Eubank, were arrested last week on charges of practicing medicine without a license and causing bodily harm. The two are currently out on bail.
According to police, Morris performed operations in hotel rooms and homes in south Florida.
Morris injected clients, mostly members of the transgender community, with a cocktail of toxins that included mineral oil, and sealed the incision with household adhesives like Super Glue.
The case against Morris stems from a woman who was hospitalized with pneumonia and a bacterial infection after undergoing a series of injections from Morris in May 2010.
Florida health investigators however took more than a year to put together a case against Morris because the woman was too embarrassed to come forward.
Rajee Narinesingh, another of Morris's alleged victims, wanted larger lips and fuller cheeks and chin -- an operation that would have been unaffordable if performed by a licensed plastic surgeon using medical silicone.
But Narinesingh later had to pay a proper surgeon to repair Morris's botched job.
"I had to end up going to surgery to get me even to this point," Narinesingh, whose face is misshapen, told Miami's CBS4 television on Monday.
Narinesingh has not filed a police report, unlike five other alleged victims, but said she was likely to do so now that she has learned "the extent of the matter."
The investigation "is still ongoing," said Bamford. "We are trying to confirm that the cases we are getting are related to this one."
