ON Tuesday March 22, 2022, Lauren Pazienza surrendered to the NYPD with her lawyer Arthur Aidala in connection with Barbara Maier Gustern’s death.
Let’s review the details of the incident and those involved.
1
Who is Lauren Pazienza?
Lauren Pazienza, a 26-year-old Port Jefferson from New York.
NYPD sources told the New York Post she also has an address in Astoria, Queens, where she lives with her fiance, Naveen Pereira.
According to a now-deactivated LinkedIn account, Ms Pazienza was a communications and events coordinator at the furniture retailer Roche Bobois.
The company told The Independent she no longer works there.
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What happened to Barbara Gustern?
On March 10, 2022, Gustern was allegedly pushed by Pazienza in New York City.
The 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach was standing on the corner of West 28th Street and 8th Avenue in Chelsea, Manhattan, nearby her apartment building.
The New York Times reported she was waiting for a cab to take her to Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, where a student of hers was performing.
At about 9.30pm, someone approached Gustern from behind and shoved her violently to the ground.
Gustern hit her head on the pavement, leaving a bleeding gash.
As Gustern waiting for medics and police to arrive, she told a friend: “I’ve never been hit so hard in my life.”
Gustern managed to describe her attacker to police, and told them the woman allegedly called her a “b***h”.
She was helped by a Good Samaritan, but she lost consciousness as first responders rendered aid, according to the complaint.
She was then taken to a hospital, where she was treated for what her grandson, AJ called “traumatic damage to the left side of her brain”.
Her condition deteriorated, and she died on 15 March.
Has Lauren Pazienza been charged?
After Pazienza surrendered two weeks after the assault, she was charged with first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault.
She was held on $500,000 bail or a $1 million bond, and faces 25 years in prison if found guilty on the manslaughter charge.
AJ exclusively told The Sun: “It’s suspicious to me that she waited so long to turn herself in”.
But is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
