Story by Ethan
On April 28th, 2025, the arrest of Felipe Hoyos Foronda, age 37, was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Felipe Hoyos Foronda was charged with second-degree Manslaughter, second-degree Assault, and Unauthorized Practice of a Profession. The arrest and charges against Felipe Hoyos Foronda were a result of an investigation handled by the NYPD and the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, at approximately 1:00 p.m. on March 28th, 2025, both the victim, 31-year-old Maria Penaloza, and one of her friends arrived at Felipe Hoyos Foronda’s apartment in Astoria, New York. The friend waited in the living room while Maria Penaloza entered an adjacent room to receive surgery for the removal of her silicone buttocks implants. Felipe Hoyos Foronda then allegedly gave the victim lidocaine, a local anesthetic, and saline through a syringe which caused Maria Penaloza to become lightheaded. The defendant administered an IV afterwards and then called 911 to report the victim’s condition which continued to deteriorate. By the time the ambulance arrived Maria Penaloza was unconscious on a medical chair, and after her transportation to Mount Sinai Queens she showed no signs of brain activity. On April 11th, 2025, the victim was ultimately removed from life support. Felipe Hoyos Foronda was located and apprehended at John F. Kennedy International Airport by a port authority officer while attempting to board a flight to Florida with a final destination of Colombia. It was revealed that the defendant was not medically licensed in the United States. A court-authorized search warrant was executed at the defendant’s residence which uncovered various medical equipment including a metal IV stand, several injectables, syringes, a needle discard box, and a binder with the names of numerous other individuals.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Felipe Hoyos Foronda are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
