Donna Francis was sentenced to just one year in jail after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide. New York Judge Kenneth Holder was forced to hand down a light sentence under an extradition agreement brokered between America and the United Kingdom. Kelly Mayhew was found lying on the floor of an illegal cosmetic surgery clinic in New York after Francis attempted to give her illegal gel butt injections she had purchased on eBay, prosecutors said.
As the 34-year-old TV producer struggled to breathe, Francis fled the basement in Queens. Kelly later died from silicone poisoning.
Francis, 39, originally from Loughton, Essex, returned to Britain the day after the May 2015 tragedy.
She refused to return to the US until she received the sentencing deal.
Judge Holder told the fake cosmetic surgeon: “I have to say that the phrase ‘getting away with murder’ certainly applies to you.
“What [the family] is not getting, in my opinion, is justice. If you have a conscience, this is going to haunt you much longer than the one-year sentence you will serve.”
During sentencing, the victim’s brother Richard Lane read a statement on behalf of their mother Latrice.
She had driven with Kelly 200 miles from Maryland for the procedure.
Latrice said that when she called 911 for her dying daughter, Francis would not tell her the address for paramedics.
“Kelly was clearly in need of emergency services, and she said, ‘No, she’s going to be OK’,” Mr Lane read to the court.
“Kelly’s last words to my mother were, ‘Mommy, hold my hand’,” he added.
Kelly had paid £1,250 for the op. Francis refused to return to America for four years before being extradited in August.
She was charged with criminally negligent homicide and unauthorised practice of a profession after prosecutors agreed to a maximum one year sentence.
On being sentenced, she sobbed and said she regretted what happened. She could be out in April with time served.
After yesterday’s hearing, Kelly’s mother said: “If you can sleep on the fact that you just killed someone then you don’t care. She got away with murder.”
Her brother said his sister “died for greed. A life lost for money”.