By Therese Apel

JACKSON Miss. (Reuters) - A Mississippi woman accused of administering an unlicensed silicone buttocks injection to a patient who later died should be convicted of murder, prosecutors told jurors in a trial that commenced on Tuesday.

Tracey Lynn Garner, 54, faces a charge of depraved-heart murder in the 2012 death of Karima Gordon, 37, in a case prosecutors say stems from a desire to make money.

Garner faces a separate trial in the death of Marilyn Hale, an Alabama woman who authorities say died under similar circumstances two years earlier.

Prosecutors said in their opening statement that Garner performed the unlicensed injections in her Jackson home, with greed as a motive.

Angelina Barber, a friend who accompanied Gordon to receive her injection, testified that Gordon fell ill almost immediately after the procedure. She died a few days later.

Lee McDivitt, an investigator for the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, testified that he found a large bottle of silicone and syringes in Garner's home that were labeled "veterinary use only."

Garner, who is transgender, was formerly named Morris Garner.

In January, Natasha Stewart, 40, also known as "Pebbelz Da Model," was sentenced to seven years in prison for having referred Gordon to Garner and falsely identifying her as a nurse.

Defense attorney John Colette declined comment after court adjourned.

(Reporting by Therese Apel; Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky and Sandra Maler)