A woman who killed an 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach by pushing her to the ground in New York City pleaded guilty Wednesday and will be sentenced to eight years in prison, the district attorney said.
Lauren Pazienza, now 28, shoved Barbara Maier Gustern to the ground from behind in the Chelsea neighborhood on March 10, 2022, officials said at the time.
Uh wtf? Why did she yell at a nearly 90 year old lady and cross the street to shove her to the ground? Unless I’m missing something, the girl in the photo just seems to be mentally unwell.
Tantrum because she was told she had to leave a park because it would be closing soon. I read a few articles and skimmed one more. Sounds like she was an entitled piece of shit.
Who is Lauren Pazienza
Lauren Pazienza is a 28-year-old Long Island resident who was accused of fatally shoving 87-year-old vocal coach Barbara Gustern in Chelsea, New York City in March 2022[1].
Pazienza pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and assault in the death of Gustern and was described by prosecutors as having a tantrum before pushing the voice coach[2]. In August 2023, Pazienza pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 8 years in prison[3][4][5].
Pazienza grew up in an idyllic part of Long Island, where her dad Daniel runs a successful business in Holtsville that has previously been ranked the No. 1 cesspool company in Suffolk County for service and price[1]. She attended Ward Melville High School in nearby Setauket with her future fiancé, now a Microsoft employee[1].
Pazienza was seen gallivanting around town, attending swanky clubs and art gallery openings, but neighbors at the upscale Astoria condo where she lived with her boyfriend said she wasn’t all smiles at home[1]. Law enforcement sources say that Pazienza was a known nuisance in the Shore Towers, and had previously called the cops on her neighbors[1][6].
Citations: [1] Who is Lauren Pazienza, accused of fatally shoving Barbara Gustern in NYC? - NY Post https://nypost.com/2022/03/23/who-is-lauren-pazienza-accused-of-fatally-shoving-barbara-gustern-in-nyc/
[2] Prosecutors Describe Lauren Pazienza’s Tantrum Before Pushing Voice Coach - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/nyregion/lauren-pazienza-vocal-coach-barbara-gustern-bail.html
[3] Lauren Pazienza to serve 8 years for killing beloved vocal coach - NY Post https://nypost.com/2023/08/23/lauren-pazienza-to-serve-8-years-for-killing-beloved-vocal-coach/
[4] Lauren Pazienza pleads guilty to killing 87-year-old vocal coach, will be sentenced to 8 years in prison - CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lauren-pazienza-guilty-manslaughter-barbara-gustern-vocal-coach-sentence-8-years-prison/
[5] Who is Lauren Pazienza? Long-Island event planner pleads guilty in shoving beloved NYC voice coach | MEAWW https://meaww.com/who-is-lauren-pazienza-long-island-event-planner-pleads-guilty-in-shoving-beloved-nyc-voice-coach
[6] Who Is Lauren Pazienza, Suspect in Singing Coach’s Death? - Curbed https://www.curbed.com/2022/03/lauren-pazienza-suspect-singing-coach-death.html
Thanks for that great summary.
What does calling the cops on neighbors have to do with a manslaughter trial though. There can be people who have a legitimate reason to do that, and then there’s those people who are calling the cops every other day, but it doesn’t specify. It’s just kind of comical that that would be used to somehow legitimate a completely unrelated manslaughter conviction.
What the fuck is wrong with people? According to this article it was unprovoke. What was the woman’s rational for doing this? The article doesn’t say.
I looked up some other articles
Pazienza’s fatal shove of the respected coach came during a drunken rampage on a night of celebrating her upcoming nuptials with her fiancé at West 28th Street, prosecutors have said.
The 5-foot-7 Pazienza encountered the 4-foot-11 Gustern after becoming enraged by a Parks Department worker kicking her and her beau out of Chelsea Park — where the pair had been eating dinner — because the green space was closing, according to the DA’s office.
After throwing her food at her lover, Pazienza crossed the street and randomly attacked Gustern — and then coldly walked away as the elderly woman bled from her head, officials said.
“Notice how she didn’t go after some 6-foot-tall, 200-pound guy – she went after my 80-pound grandmother,” Gustern’s grandson said after Wednesday’s hearing.
She sounds like a real piece of shit. https://nypost.com/2023/08/23/lauren-pazienza-to-serve-8-years-for-killing-beloved-vocal-coach/ (I know NYP can be a shitty source but can be a good source for getting sorid details)
Following the attack, Pazienza took the subway back to her Astoria home, where she finally disclosed to her fiancé that she had shoved someone hours later. \ After seeing on the news that the beloved vocal coach had died – and spotting herself in surveillance images released by police – Pazienza deleted all of her social media accounts, removed her wedding website and fled to Long Island to stay with family, the DA’s office said. … But Pazienza’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, has claimed that Pazienza was so bombed off of a cocktail of wine, weed and prescription drugs that she could not have possibly known what she was doing, or had the required “intent” for the manslaughter charge to stick.
“No your honor, your don’t understand. I was just really wasted.”
I belive they said she was having a temper tantrum when she did it. A fucking temper tantrum?
Drugs and alcohol everytime. Where was her finance during this rampage? Thank you for the Details she going have pay for her consequences. Hopefully she sobers up and cleans up. That lady should have never died that way.
She absolutely sounds like a total piece of shit, but careful citing the NY Post as credible journalism
Spoiled bitch basically
“it was a prank, bro!”
Are we allowed to schadenfreude this wealthy convict? Or is that too gauche for my fellow lemmies?
8 years for murder is a slap on the wrist.
She didn’t get 8 years for murder because she wasn’t tried for murder.
if she was drunk driving and hit her, she would have gotten less
Good thing it was manslaughter and not murder.
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She was known as a socialite around NYC, and grew up well-off in Long Island as the daughter of, believe it or not, the owner of the #1 cesspool company. So yes, the killer is fairly affluent.
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She tried to hide out in Long Island with mummy and daddy. They probably should have taught her about consequences and self-control when she was growing up. Affluenza strikes again.
Figures she’s from Long Island.
I also read that as a slur and not a literal thing. Is that really what they are still called?
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If you have a company that drains cesspools, how else would you be referred to it?
I meant that I didn’t know we still built/maintained what are still called cesspools. It sounds like a name for something that used to be common but is no longer built because we have modern sewage treatment plants.
So yes, the killer is fairly affluent.
I read that as “fairly effluent” and I was like “I see what you did there.”
Reminds me of the most accurate definition of “what is wealthy” I ever heard.
PersonA: “What does being wealthy even mean?”
PersonB: “It usually means someone has more money than me”
It might be “this person has more financial resources then 98% of the population”.
No, that’s very specific and you can put an exact number on someone who is in the top 2%
I’m referring to statements in this thread, where we don’t know shit about this ladies finances, other than her dad has a “successful” business. People making assumptions about her wealth. What does being a “socialite” even mean? She likes going to art galleries and events? Spoiler alert - anyone can do that, don’t assume these are things that cost money (other than what it costs to catch a train/cab/Uber to get there, and possibly price of admission, which might not even be a lot either).
She’s going to prison for a few years, she clearly ain’t got the resources many people here assume she does.
I’m not sure why you insist on arguing that point. I don’t agree with your logic that she “ain’t” got resources simply because she’s going to prison for murdering someone. Avoiding prison for murder is more of a top .1% kind of thing and nobody has suggested that.
My problem is with people assuming she is wealthy and what does that even mean, it’s such a relative term. She just looks like a nobody to me who did something bad and will pay the consequences, like most other people. I just don’t understand why people are throwing her into the top 2% of this country based on this headline
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This fucking sub-human murdered an innocent woman at random because she was having a temper tantrum after being kicked out of a city park. And she only gets 8 fucking years?
So, if I understand this right, it’s mostly OK to kill people at random in NYC? That’s the message this extremely light sentence conveys.
It wasn’t murder, because it wasn’t pre-meditated and she likely didn’t intend to kill when she did it. Manslaugher and assault seem the correct charges. I’m not making excuses for her, she deserves jail over this. But all those mitigating factors matter when you compare this case with murder cases that get 20+ years.
It must suck to be a judge, and have to decide that taking some lives are worth more or less than taking others.
Eight years in state prison is an extremely light sentence? I’d hate to know what would be considered severe in your world.
She gets to have a life after those 8 years. The woman she killed doesnt. Her family never gets to see her again. She’s GONE because of this bitch and there’s no bringing her back.
You clearly have no idea what life with a serious criminal record is like if you think she’s going to be able to just pick up where she left off when she gets out (nevermind the lost 8 years).
Don’t get me wrong, what she did was fucked up, but an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and it sounds like the only sentence you’d have been happy with is more or less life in prison. She didn’t set out to kill this lady, even in the heat of the moment. It’s beyond fucked up to shove an old lady in any case, and every single day of those 8 years is well earned, but I don’t agree that it’s light.
As a society we need to get over this idea that the goal of prison is to punish the perpetrators. The point should be to rehabilitate them so that when they get out they can be decent law abiding, productive members of society. A person rotting in prison for the rest of their life does nothing but waste tax dollars and cause misery. A person rehabilitated can go on to make the world a tiny bit better, and maybe even help someone else from going down the same fucked up path she did.
Its a fact that countries whose prison systems are centered around rehabilitation have lower repeat offender rates
Her family is wealthy, she’ll be fine when she gets out. If we were using an eye for an eye she’d be executed.
As for rehabilitation, there are 8 billion people on this planet. We can afford to dump the shitty ones in dark hole for the rest of their lives. There’s more than enough good people that need help and aren’t getting it those resources could go to.
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I don’t know about that. There’s a place down the road from me that rents excavators for a lot cheaper than you’d think.
Thank you, someone in these comments who’s rational and not just out for blood ffs
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It would depend on circumstance I suppose. This woman straight up attacked the victim for no reason. That’s good enough for me.
And imprisoning someone else for any length of time won’t change that.
It will prevent her from ever doing anything like that again and from having a good life like the one she denied the victim and her loved ones.
So your solution to suffering is to… cause more suffering?
It doesn’t solve anything, nothing will un-kill her victim. All we can do to balance things is make sure she suffers as well.
I don’t see how that is a positive for society.
She gets to have a life after those 8 years. The woman she killed doesnt.
Not to defend the crazy spoiled lady, but I don’t think it’s a safe bet that the 87 year old would’ve lived for 8 more years.
We’ll never know thanks to the cunt that killed her.
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She gets to have a life after those 8 years.
Having a life after a criminal conviction in the US is not a thing.
I’ve worked with several ex cons. They were doing okay. The last place I worked hired a fucking convicted child molester OF HIS OWN CHILD. If that dude could get a job anyone can.
Her family is well off. She’ll be fine.
I always found the thought alone scary. Imagine losing one year of your life locked up. Everything around you would just ‘move past’ while you’re caged in. Now imagine eight years of your past life and how much happened in that time and what you would have missed.
I don’t think any country should have lifelong (timely unlimited) sentences, they’re incredibly cruel, maybe worse than death.
Yeah, I think prison should be reserved for people who are an immediate danger to society. She probably qualifies, but I’d say that any continued imprisonment should be determined by a parole board, including a professional psychologist or something.
that’s exactly what i am saying lol.
prison should be used much more conservitavely and be seen as a measure to protect the victim/public, not to punish the perpetrator.
We actually did have a ruling like that in Germany, so our highest available punishment, “lifelong” prison sentences aren’t what the name implies. They are long, always more than 15 years and usually above 20, but eventually you get out.
There is another measure available to keep people locked up indefinitely, “Sicherheitsverwahrung”, which keeps getting extended if they are considered to remain a large threat to society. But it’s not supposed to be a punishment, so they get more commodities at least.
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