Two Face Manslaughter Charges In Gramercy Butt Injection Death

GRAMERCY, NY — A woman accused of killing a Harlem mother with a black-market butt injection didn't act alone, according to a grand jury indictment released on Thursday.

Allison Spence was arrested last month and charged with manslaughter after giving a deadly implant injection to 31-year-old Latesha Bynum, prosecutors said. Spence’s indictment, released on Thursday, shows that a second person, a man named Keith Richardson, is also facing manslaughter charges for Bynum’s death. Richardson hasn’t yet been arrested and authorities are still searching for him.

The indictment says Spence, 44, and Richardson “recklessly caused the death of Latesha Bynum” through the “wounds and injuries” she inflicted on Bynum during the procedure.

The indictment unsealed on Thursday also indicates that Spence and Richardson had worked together for years conducting illegal butt injections and related operations. According to the indictment, the two are facing eight charges for unauthorized practice of a profession between February 2014 and July 15, 2017, the date when Bynum’s botched operation was performed. Authorities could not provide details on Spence and Richardson's relationship. The New York Post first reported on the additional charges that Spence is facing.

Police say that Bynum, a mother of two from Harlem, went to a Gramercy apartment for the procedure on July 15. She called 911 complaining of dizziness and chest pains shortly after the injection and was rushed to the hospital. She died more than a week later, on July 27, and the city’s medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Spence was arrested two months later, on Sept. 28. She remains in jail on a $1 million bail.

Patch was not immediately able to contact Spence’s attorney on Friday. Richardson has not yet appeared in court and currently does not have an attorney.

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