Background: News footage of Tonya Beauty in Orlando, Fla. (WESH). Inset: Gabriela Pereira (Orlando Police Department).
A Florida woman who was working at an Orlando medical spa without a license was charged with 20 felonies after leaving one patient with a burned, blistered chin.
Gabriela Pereira, 29, was arrested on Friday in connection to a procedure she performed on an unnamed patient in 2024 at the Tonya Beauty medical spa in Orlando. According to the arrest affidavit, which was reviewed by Law&Crime, Pereira first saw the patient on April 16, 2024, to perform an Endolaser treatment on her chin area. The patient left the appointment with “burns” that eventually blistered, and the tissue became necrotic.
After her initial appointment, Pereira saw the patient seven more times in an attempt to correct the damage. The affidavit stated that Pereira offered up her services for free in exchange for using the patient as a “model” for Tonya Beauty and show of her results.
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Pereira”s patient was not the first person to notice that something was seemingly sketchy about the people working at Tonya Beauty. According to the affidavit, the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) in Orlando received a tip in February 2023 that someone at Tonya Beauty was performing Botox treatments but was “NOT a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, dentist, or medical doctor.” The tipster urged someone at the MBI to investigate the medical spa, claiming that it was “BEYOND illegal and full of scams” as well as a risk to patients and public safety.
According to the affidavit, an investigator found several expired licenses through the Florida Department of Health, including for the owner of the business, Tonya Silva Pereira, 43. Tonya Pereira was previously served with a cease and desist order by the Florida Department of Health for practicing medicine without a license.
A tip in connection to Gabriela Pereira’s patient arrived at the MBI on June 11, 2024. A registered nurse working at another medical spa sent an email to the agency stating that a woman who had seen Gabriela Pereira for Botox treatments expressed her wish to “get her double chin done.” After Gabriela Pereira allegedly left the Endolaser on the woman’s chin for too long, the patient was burned and returned to Tonya Beauty several times.
Eventually, the woman began experiencing painful and upsetting side effects, including a large blister at the surgical site. The woman sent Gabriela Pereira pictures of what she was seeing and was told that it was “normal.” When the woman began experiencing a fever and “pus coming out of her right eye,” she called a health clinic for help. They told her that her symptoms were too serious and that she had to go to a hospital.
The woman, who did not have health insurance, went back to be treated by Gabriela Pereira instead. Despite several treatments by Gabriela Pereira, the woman’s symptoms persisted and became worse. She finally went to Orlando Health Hospital where she was diagnosed with “necrosis of the chin area.”
According to the affidavit, the woman continued to go back to Tonya Beauty for corrective treatment on her chin. She reportedly refused some treatments due to the pain they caused, but she was warned by Tonya beauty employees that her infection could be fatal if she stopped treating it.
Ultimately, the woman went to another medical spa and finally received treatment for her botched procedure. She still has scars from the original treatment.
Gabriela Pereira was charged with 20 felonies including several counts of practicing medicine without a license and unlicensed practice of a health care professional. According to local NBC affiliate WESH, she posted $29,750 bond and was released from custody.
