Woman Whose Buttock Injection Killed Rotimi Boasts At Trial

Padge Victoria Windslowe is accused of killing a 20-year-old Nigerian dancer from London during a procedure that involved industrial-grade silicone and Krazy Glue.

Windslowe, 45, is an aspiring hip-hop artist who performed under the name Black Madam. Her trial opened on Thursday in Philadelphia.

"Everyone was calling me 'the Michelangelo of buttocks injections,'" Windslowe told a judge.

"God's blessed my hands with everything I touch. I make lots of money, in lots of ways."

She faces third-degree murder, manslaughter and other charges in a case that led Philadelphia police to investigate the strange world of underground surgery.

The victim, Claudia Aderotimi, started having trouble breathing during a procedure in a hotel room in February 2011 to celebrate her birthday. By the next day she was dead.

A witness testified she had chest pains.

"She just kept saying she has chest pains, she has chest pains," Scheffee Wilson told the court.

"I was there all night. I was the one who called the ambulance."

Windslowe allegedly fled the hotel room and was on the run for months before her arrest.

Windslowe, who is transgender, testified that she did not check her phone or email in the months afterward because she was in France and ignoring people who were "transphobic".

She charged about $1,000 to $2,000 per session, according to two of her clients who testified.

Windslowe's clients were "not rich, not millionaires like Kim Kardashian" - and therefore sought cheaper options than plastic surgery, Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega said in opening statements.

Windslowe rejected a plea offer of 15 to 30 years in prison in exchange for a third-degree murder plea. She faces 20 to 40 years on that charge if convicted at trial.