Judge revokes bail for Lauren Pazienza in death of Broadway vocal coach Barbara Gustern
NEW YORK -- A judge has revoked bail for a woman accused in the death of a beloved Broadway drama coach.
Lauren Pazienza, 26, is accused of shoving 87-year-old Barbara Gustern to the ground on a Manhattan street two months ago.
Gustern died just days later.
Tuesday, prosecutors revealed new details about the moments before the attack, and how Pazienza allegedly tried to cover her tracks.
Pazienza pleaded not guilty to several charges. Her once-red hair is now darker. She was accompanied by her mother to court.
They were the last steps of freedom for the former event planner - at least for now - because the judge revoked her bail, and put her behind bars pending trial.
Prosecutors say Pazienza, who is charged with first degree manslaughter, randomly - and fatally - shoved Gustern.
It happened in Chelsea on the night of March 10. Gustern was returning from rehearsal and she was steps away from her home on west 28th Street when she was approached from behind and shoved to the ground.
Prosecutors told the court Pazienza admitted to them she shoved Gustern, who she did not know. Prosecutors said it happened after an evening out where she had several glasses of wine and got into a fight with her fiancé.
She's accused of assaulting Gustern, without provocation, calling her the B-word, and pushing the 90-pound senior to the sidewalk. Gustern struck her head.
Prosecutors say In the days after the incident, Pazienza fled to her parents home in Port Jefferson, Long Island, avoiding her apartment In Astoria. They say she quickly deleted her social media accounts.
"What she did needs to have consequences," Gustern's friend Morgan Jenness said.
Jenness, who took vocal classes from Gustern and became her friend, agreed with the judge's decision to take away bail for Pazienza.
"She ran across the street to push an elderly woman for no reason, because she was having a temper tantrum, and pushed her so hard that she hit her head and bled out and died," Jenness said.
At the March 26th Memorial Service for Gustern, grandson AJ referred to the shocking death of the woman he affectionally called "Bob Bob."
"What are the collective choices we make that allow such a positive force of nature like my Bob Bob to be murdered across the street from this very church," A.J. Gustern said.
Now in Colorado, the grandson talked to Carlin via a video call.
"The wheels of justice system are doing with a need to do," he said. "The fact that she's back in Rikers and not able to hurt anybody at least in the immediate future is good news. Hopefully she stays there and if she ever gets released she gets the help she needs so she never does this to anybody again."
If convicted, Pazienza faces between five and 25 years behind bars.
"This was a senseless and unprovoked attack," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Tuesday. "Barbara Gustern was a beloved vocal coach who lived a vibrant and active life at the age of 87, and her loss was felt deeply by many throughout the city. After allegedly walking away from Ms. Gustern as she laid on the ground bleeding, Lauren Pazienza went to great lengths to avoid accountability for her actions."
