Georgia Fugitive in Silicone Injection Death Arrested After 17 Years
Tamaira Angell Smith, wanted since 2009 in the death of Eyanna Moore after an illegal silicone injection, was arrested in Texas after a DMV inquiry and facial recognition tied her to a stolen identity, authorities said.
A woman accused of killing a Georgia mother with an illegal silicone injection has been captured in Texas after 17 years on the run, authorities said, bringing a long-delayed measure of accountability to a case that began in a suburban hotel room and ended with a routine driver's license inquiry.
Tamaira Angell Smith, 52, faces a felony murder charge in the 2009 death of Eyanna Moore, 29, of Loganville, according to the Gwinnett County criminal arrest warrant. Authorities extradited Smith from Texas, and she remains in the Gwinnett County Jail. A bond hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.
Investigators say Smith injected silicone into Moore's left buttock inside a Holiday Inn Express room near Stone Mountain on May 30, 2009. Moore died the following day. A warrant was secured in June 2009, initially charging Smith with practicing medicine without a license; a felony murder warrant followed months later, but by then she had fled.
Moore's maternal aunt, Yolanda Hammond, said her niece researched providers carefully before agreeing to the procedure. Hammond said Smith and another woman presented themselves as sisters, one a doctor and Smith a physician assistant. «Eyanna did extensive research,» Hammond said. «The website checked out, they had reviews, but we later found out there was an actual cosmetic location except for they were not the real people. They used someone else's credentials to pose themselves as those people.»
According to Hammond, Smith called Moore's husband, David, shortly after the procedure and told him to bring yogurt and Gatorade to the hotel. He arrived to find his wife in distress and called 911. Smith later called David to ask how Moore was doing; he told her Moore had died. «He said she was screaming 'no,' and hung up the phone,» Hammond said. «Nobody never heard from her again.»
The break in the case came from an unlikely source. Smith obtained a South Carolina driver's license in November 2018 using a stolen identity, according to a Sept. 25 news release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. In July 2026, she contacted the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles for help after an alert on the license blocked her from renewing it online.
SLED assigned the identity fraud investigation to Special Agent Shawn Ludwig in August. Facial recognition helped him identify Smith and uncover the outstanding murder warrant. SLED Director of Public Information Renée Wunderlich said Ludwig and Senior Special Agent Bridgette Lott worked the investigation together, identified another alias Smith used in McKinney, Texas, and passed her vehicle information to local police. McKinney officers located the vehicle and arrested her in August.
Hammond said she was stunned by how investigators found Smith. «You ran for 17 years and then you call and ask for help under an alias, like really?» she said.
Moore's death left four children — Tatiyanna, Faith, Fantasia and Tristan — to grow up without their mother. Two of the children were so young they have no recollection of her. The family now plans to attend court hearings and hopes for justice.
«She was always advancing herself for a better career for herself and her family,» Hammond said. «She's 29 years old and she had a full life ahead of her... well educated young woman, married with children, and she just didn't deserve that.»
Hammond said she hopes Moore's death will raise awareness of illegal silicone injections and help other families avoid the loss hers has endured. «The thing that I would like for the world to know is just, you know, make sure you do your due diligence vetting these people. Make sure that you check the credentials,» she said. «No alteration of your body is worth you losing your life.»
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