Fake Astoria plastic surgeon Felipe Hoyos-Foronda was indicted on manslaughter charges for performing a procedure on a Whitestone mother of two who died after an implant removal. NYPD
April 29, 2025 By Bill Parry
A Queens grand jury indicted an Astoria man on charges of manslaughter, assault, and unauthorized practice of a profession for allegedly performing cosmetic surgery without a license in his 35th Street home. The 31-year-old victim, a mother of two young children from Whitestone, went into cardiac arrest and died 14 days later.
Felipe Hoyos-Foronda, 37, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Monday on the indictment charging him with second-degree manslaughter and other related crimes.
According to the charges and investigation, María Peñaloza arrived at Hoyos-Forona’s unlicensed medical practice in his ground-floor apartment inside a house at 20-59 35th St. at around 1 p.m. on March 28 to have silicone buttock implants removed. She was accompanied by a friend who waited in the apartment’s living room while Peñaloza went into an adjacent room for the procedure.
María Peñaloza died in Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in Astoria two weeks after she received a botched cosmetic procedure allegedly performed by Hoyos-Foronda in his Astoria home. Courtesy of GoFundMe
Hoyos-Foronda is alleged to have given the victim lidocaine, which is a local anesthetic, and saline through a syringe. Peñaloza became lightheaded, and Hoyos-Foronda administered an IV and called 911 when she did not improve. When EMS responded to the location, they found Peñaloza unconscious on a medical chair. She was rushed to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in Astoria, where she showed no signs of brain activity. She was removed from life support and died on April 11.
Hoyos-Foronda, who does not have a license to practice medicine in the United States, was apprehended at JFK Airport by a Port Authority Police officer as he attempted to board a flight to Florida with an ultimate destination of Colombia. A court-authorized search warrant of the defendant’s home found medical equipment, including a metal IV stand, multiple injectables on the shelves, syringes, a box to discard needles, and a binder with the names of individuals.
EMS found the victim in a medical chair in the makeshift medical facility in the fake doctor’s home on 35th Street. She never regained consciousness and died two weeks later. Photos courtesy of DOB
“As alleged, Felipe Hoyos-Foronda provided an unlicensed medical treatment in a make-shift home clinic in Astoria that led to a 31-year-old woman’s death,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “On March 28, the victim went into cardiac arrest after having been injected with lidocaine as part of a botched surgical procedure. Unfortunately, María Peñaloza, a mother of two, passed away two weeks later.”
Katz is urging anyone who may have utilized the defendant’s service or visited the makeshift medical office on 35th Street in Astoria to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or in Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Anyone seeking medical or cosmetic treatments is urged to first check the credentials of the provider with the New York State Education Department of the Professions.
“My thoughts are with the victim’s family as we seek justice on her behalf,” Katz said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant remanded Hoyos-Foronda into custody without bail and ordered him to return to court on June 3. If convicted, he faces up to five to 15 years in prison.
Peñaloza’s sister launched a GoFundMe account to help pay for the medical and funeral costs.
Featured Events
