28 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 24, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Bernie Sanders rally brings 20,000 people to Queensbridge Park
BY TODD MAISEL
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign
Rosedale woman admits to killing woman
with botched butt enhancement procedure
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
A Rosedale woman admitted to causing
a Maryland woman’s death by performing
a botched butt enhancement
procedure, prosecutors announced
Friday.
Donna Francis, 39, pleaded guilty to
criminally negligent homicide on Oct.
18. Francis will return to court for sentencing
on Nov. 14, where she faces up to
a year in jail, pursuant to the extradition
order limiting incarceration to no more
than one year.
As part of the terms of the extradition
agreement, Francis will be held in
Suff olk County and not be incarcerated
in Rikers Island.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant has
now admitted to causing the death of
a young woman who sought a cosmetic
procedure at a discount and paid with
her life. Th e defendant set up shop in
the basement of a Far Rockaway home
using a massage table for an examination
table and silicone gel that had been
purchased from the website eBay,” said
Acting District Attorney John M. Ryan.
“Th e victim in this case traveled from
Maryland with her mother and paid
$1,600 cash for the injections. Sadly, the
treatment killed her. She went into cardiac
arrest as the defendant pumped a clear
liquid substance into the woman’s backside.
Th e defendant, who fought extradition,
will serve time behind bars as a
result of her actions.”
According to charges, on May 30, 2015,
a 34-year-old woman and her mother
traveled from their home in Suitland,
Md., to meet Francis for a buttock augmentation
procedure, which took place
in the basement of a home on Dickens
Street in Far Rockaway. Francis — who
is not a licensed physician or nurse —
injected a clear fl uid into the victim’s
butt, and when Francis administered the
second injection, the victim began to
show signs of distress.
Th e victim’s mother called 911 and
at around 6 p.m. that day, emergency
responders arrived at the scene and
found the victim at the bottom of the
stairs lying face up. Th e victim was transported
to a nearby hospital, where she
was pronounced dead.
Th e medical examiner found that the
Photo via Getty Images
victim’s death was caused by systemic
silicone emboli. When injected into a
human body, silicone must be encapsulated
to avoid free silicone from entering
the bloodstream and causing an embolism.
Shortly aft er the incident, Francis fl ed
the scene and ultimately fl ed the country
to London, England, the next day.
A court-authorized search of another
address used by Francis uncovered
syringes, a jug fi lled with a clear liquid
consistent with silicone and an invoice
with Francis’s name on it for jugs of
dimethicone (a silicone-based product)
from eBay.
While Francis tried to fi ght extradition,
she was ultimately brought back to
Queens to face the charges.
for the Democratic presidential
nomination received a big boost
on Saturday in Long Island City, where
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez endorsed him before a crowd of
more than 20,000 people at Queensbridge
Park.
Offi cial crowd estimates were not available,
but some police commanders said
the gathering “exceeded expectations.”
Th is was Sanders’ comeback rally aft er
suff ering a heart last month. Despite his
health setback, the Vermont senator was
as fi ery as ever on a myriad of issues from
Medicare for all, taxing the rich, free
college tuition and supporting Ocasio-
Cortez’s environmental plan known as the
“Green New Deal.”
“To put it bluntly, I am back. I am more
than ready to assume to job of president
of the United States,” Sanders boomed
to a raucous mass of poster waving supporters.
Ocasio-Cortez previously worked as a
volunteer for the Sanders campaign in
2016. She applauded his consistency on
social issues that, she said, impact her
constituents and “most of America.” She
called the endorsement “a moment of
clarity.”
Th e Bronx/Queens congresswoman
ticked off a litany of issues faced by her
constituents and people across America,
much of which aff ected her family growing
Photo by Todd Maisel
up in New York City. She also spoke
about what she called were “racist policies
of underfunding of NYCHA housing.”
Th e park is across the street from the
Queensbridge Houses, a NYCHA complex.
“Public housing is under funded by
$30 billion and that is no accident — an
outcome of a system that devalues the
poor and working people and prioritizes
buildings like those buildings over there
(pointed to Manhattan skyline),” she said.
Senator Sanders in turn promised a
“multi-billion” revitalization and repair
program if elected that would correct
some of the lack of funding provided by
the federal government.
Filmmaker/activist Michael Moore and
San Juan, Puerto Rico Mayor Carmen
Yulin Cruz — a frequent foil of President
Trump in their war of words over assistance
for Puerto Rico following Hurricane
Maria in 2017 — also appeared at the rally
to endorse Sanders.
At the end of his speech, Sanders was
joined on the stage by members of his
family, including his wife Dr. Jane Sanders
and several grandchildren.
Most of the crowd vowed to enthusiastically
support him in the primaries.
“We really need Bernie, and we obviously
have to get Trump out,” said Melissa
Tolve of Harlem, who sat on the ground
with her friend, Andrew Gayle. “I trust
him more than anyone else that’s running
and he’s been consistent. His plan makes
the most sense: direct more money to
community and health care.”
“I’m a teacher so I think that Bernie’s
plan if I want to stop being a teacher, I
could get health care,” said Juliana Ritter
from Bedford Stuyvesant. “I think Bernie’s
ideas will only help my retirement plans
and I would get more security.”
A small group of Trump supporters
gathered outside the gates of the rally,
chanting their “disgust” of Sanders while
touting Trump as their savior. Sanders
supporters traded barbs with about two
dozen of the Trump boosters as a group
of NYPD police offi cers separated the
two sides to prevent any physical altercation.
Bernie Sanders energizes the crowd during his rally at Queensbridge Park.
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