'Black Madam' arrested in silicone-injection case

A woman known as the "Black Madam," who was accused of administering a buttocks injection last year that killed a woman from London, was arrested Wednesday night in the East Germantown section of the city, police said.

Padge Victoria Windslowe, 42, had gone to a house in the 100 block of East Pastorius Street for a "pumping party" - where women receive illegal silicone injections - when she was arrested about 8 p.m., said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.

She was charged Thursday with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, theft by deception, deceptive practices, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault and reckless endangerment of another person.

Silicone injections for buttocks enhancement are banned in the United States.

The investigation lagged until a woman, 23, told police she had been injected by Windslowe at a party Feb. 19 and was hospitalized twice afterward, Walker said.

Authorities say Windslowe allegedly injected silicone into the buttocks of Claudia Seye Aderotimi, 20, who came to Philadelphia for the illegal procedure in February 2011 in a room at the Hampton Inn on Bartram Avenue near Philadelphia International Airport.

Aderotimi was hospitalized after complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains. She died Feb. 8, 2011, at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.

The woman who came forward last week was admitted Feb. 21 to Temple University Hospital after she contracted pneumonia, Walker said.

She was later released, but then started spitting up blood and finally told a Temple doctor that she had been injected with silicone, Walker said.

The hospital determined that silicone had entered the woman's bloodstream and caused a pulmonary embolism, Walker said. The hospital notified police, and the investigation of Windslowe was restarted.

Investigators learned about the next party and set up surveillance on the house. Windslowe arrived in a black Chevrolet Impala. When she was arrested, she was carrying a pink bag that contained cotton balls, needles, glue, and a water bottle with an unknown substance, Walker said.

"We were intent on getting the Black Madam with the substance in her possession," Walker said.

The unknown substance will be tested.

No others are expected to be arrested.

The case involving the death of Aderotimi, a student and aspiring actress and dancer, is pending.

at 215-854-2759 or mnewall@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @MikeNewall.

Inquirer staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.