Oneal Ron Morris is a Florida woman who injected women with a mixture of industrial materials, including Fix-a-Flat tire sealant, cement, mineral oil, bathroom caulk, and super glue, while posing as a cosmetic practitioner. She had no medical license. Her injections left multiple women with severe infections and lasting injuries, and one client, Shatarka Nuby, died at 31 from what a medical examiner called “massive systemic silicone migration.” In 2017, Morris pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to ten years in prison, followed by five years of probation.
How She Operated
Morris, a transgender woman known by the nickname “The Dutchess,” worked out of private homes in Miami Gardens and elsewhere in South Florida. She sometimes wore medical scrubs so clients would think she was a healthcare professional.1NY Daily News. Toxic Tush Transgender Nurse Oneal Ron Morris Faces Manslaughter Charge Clients came to her for fuller buttocks, hips, thighs, and breasts. She charged hundreds of dollars per session; one victim paid $700 for a series of buttock injections in May 2010.2ABC7. Fake Doctor Accused of Injecting Fix-a-Flat Into Patient
Investigators and victims identified what Morris was injecting as a mix of cement, mineral oil, bathroom caulking, Fix-a-Flat, and industrial-grade silicone. She allegedly sealed the puncture wounds with super glue and cotton balls.3BBC News. Florida Fake Doctor Faces New Charges Over Death One victim told investigators Morris kept the injection material in a Pedialyte bottle.4CBS News. Alleged Fix-a-Flat Fake Surgeon Arrested Again After More Victims Come Forward Morris reportedly told at least one victim’s family that the substance was silicone bought at Home Depot. When the woman who paid the $700 complained of pain afterward, Morris allegedly told her, “We just keep injecting you with the stuff and it all works itself out.”2ABC7. Fake Doctor Accused of Injecting Fix-a-Flat Into Patient
The Death of Shatarka Nuby
Between 2007 and 2011, Shatarka Nuby received roughly ten rounds of injections from Morris in her buttocks, hips, thighs, and breasts at a home in Tallahassee.3BBC News. Florida Fake Doctor Faces New Charges Over Death Her skin began hardening and turning black at the injection sites. In November 2011 she reported her worsening condition to the Florida Department of Health. In December 2011 she gave investigators a recorded statement about the history of the procedures.
Nuby died in March 2012 at age 31 while incarcerated in Tallahassee. An assistant medical examiner determined the cause of death was respiratory failure caused by “massive systemic silicone migration” throughout her body.5Los Angeles Times. Lethal Buttocks Injections Medical experts noted the buttocks are rich in blood vessels, and the body treats industrial silicone as a foreign substance, so once injected it does not stay in place. Nuby’s grandmother gave a sworn statement in April 2012 confirming that Morris had administered the injections.1NY Daily News. Toxic Tush Transgender Nurse Oneal Ron Morris Faces Manslaughter Charge
Other Victims
Several other women reported serious injuries. The first known victim, whose May 2010 procedure prompted Morris’s initial arrest, developed severe abdominal pain, pneumonia, and an antibiotic-resistant MRSA infection that required hospitalization.6WIS TV. Police: Fake Doctor Filled Patient’s Buttocks With Fix-a-Flat Three more women named in the case, Lournise Linton, Ophelia Parker, and Tiffany Kennedy, developed complications and infections. Kennedy’s mother said the injected material was “rolling around” inside her daughter’s body.4CBS News. Alleged Fix-a-Flat Fake Surgeon Arrested Again After More Victims Come Forward Valentina Lopez of Hallandale Beach said she needed five surgeries to remove the injected material and two more to repair the resulting scars.7NBC Miami. Butt Enhancement Suspect Ordered Held on $150,000 Bond
Arrests and Charges
Morris’s first arrest came on November 18, 2011, more than a year after the May 2010 victim first reported her. Police said she had been moving between houses and driving a black Mercedes to avoid detection. An officer spotted the car outside a residence and arrested her.2ABC7. Fake Doctor Accused of Injecting Fix-a-Flat Into Patient She was charged in Broward County with practicing medicine without a license with serious bodily injury and released on bond.
Five days later, on November 23, 2011, she was arrested again in Miami-Dade County after another victim reported procedures done at a home in Miami Gardens.8NBC Miami. More Arrests for Bad Butt Injections as Second Alleged Victim Comes Forward A third arrest followed in March 2012 as more women came forward, and Morris entered a written plea of not guilty in Broward County that April.9Palm Beach Post. Toxic Tush Suspect Pleads After Nuby’s death and the medical examiner’s findings, prosecutors added a manslaughter charge. On July 26, 2012, Morris was arrested at her mother’s home in Coconut Creek, and a Broward County judge set bond at $150,000.10CBS News Miami. Accused Fake Butt Doctor Remains Jailed for Manslaughter
The Pleas and the Ten-Year Sentence
The cases moved through two Florida counties. In Miami-Dade County, Morris pleaded guilty in October 2013 to one count of practicing medicine without a license. Prosecutors said they reached the deal in part because of limited physical evidence and reluctant witnesses; the state had never found direct evidence that she used Fix-a-Flat in that particular case.11CBS News Miami. Phony Butt Doc Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Prison She received just over a year in state prison and was ordered to surrender on January 7, 2014.12NBC Miami. Defendant in Bad Butt Injections Case Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to One Year in Prison
The Broward County case involving Nuby’s death took longer. In February 2017, Morris pleaded no contest to manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license.13WTXL. Fake Doctor Gets Years for Bogus Deadly Butt Injections On March 27, 2017, a Broward County judge sentenced her to ten years in prison and five years of probation.14KSAT. Fix-a-Flat Butt Doctor Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison on Manslaughter Charge
At the sentencing, Nuby’s mother, Sherri Pitts, told the court: “My daughter died the most inhumane death, 18 months she suffered with not knowing the full of what he put in her body. The doctors couldn’t do anything until they knew what portion they put in her body.”15CBS News Miami. Toxic Tush Doc Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison Victim Kisha Jones addressed Morris directly: “You gave us your word that the products you was using was A-1 products. And come to find out they were not… Maybe in the beginning, but greed really took over, because you was pocketing the money from every victim.”16Bradenton Herald. Oneal Ron Morris Sentenced Morris said she did not “deliberately hurt her friend.”
Appeal
Morris filed a pro se appeal with Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. In Oneal Ron Morris v. State of Florida, No. 4D18-1490, a three-judge panel affirmed her conviction and sentence on August 9, 2018.17FindLaw. Oneal Ron Morris v. State of Florida, No. 4D18-1490
The Florida Law Behind the Charges
The unlicensed practice of a healthcare profession in Florida is governed by Section 456.065 of the Florida Statutes. Practicing without a valid license is a third-degree felony. When the unlicensed practice causes serious bodily injury, including death, disfigurement, or conditions requiring surgery, the offense is elevated to a second-degree felony carrying a minimum $1,000 fine and one year of mandatory incarceration.18Florida Legislature. Section 456.065, Florida Statutes Because a client died, Morris also faced the manslaughter charge, which carried the bulk of her ten-year sentence.