The woman who fatally shoved an 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach in New York was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison and five years post-release supervision, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed to CNN.
Lauren Pazienza pushed vocal coach Barbara Gustern to the ground on the evening of March 10, 2022, and according to a criminal complaint, there was “no apparent reason” for the attack. The district attorney’s office had previously announced the details of Pazienza’s plea agreement when she pleaded guilty in August.
Pazienza was walking from Chelsea Park when she crossed a street and shouted obscenities at Gustern and then “intentionally shoved her to the ground,” causing her to fall directly on her head, the DA’s office said previously.
The fall caused a “massive hemorrhage” to Gustern’s brain, according to the district attorney’s office.
Pazienza walked away while Gustern was on the ground bleeding from her head, prosecutors said.
Gustern died five days later after she was removed from life support, the district attorney’s office said.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner concluded the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, according to the criminal complaint.
“Barbara Gustern’s sudden, violent death at the hands of Lauren Pazienza left a family and community in mourning,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement to CNN Friday night.
“There is nothing that can bring her back, but I hope that the resolution of these proceedings can provide some sense of closure amid her loved ones’ ongoing grief.”
Affablesea9917 on October 4th, 2023 at 04:12 UTC »
I read that her bail was half a million dollars and her parents bailed her out. Sounds like a spoiled rich brat whose temper tantrum cost someone their life
theyipper on October 4th, 2023 at 03:56 UTC »
Rolling Stone has a good article:https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/woman-who-fatally-shoved-broadway-coach-prison-sentence-1234836331/
The woman who fatally shoved 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach Barbara Gustern in New York received a longer-than-expected prison sentence Friday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in August.Lauren Pazienza was sentence to eight-and-a-half years behind bars during her sentencing hearing, which is six months more than what was recommended as part of the plea agreement she made with the Manhattan’s District Attorney’s Office.In handing down a slightly more severe sentence, Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin said she was unconvinced that Pazienza had taken responsibility for her actions on March 10, 2022, when Pazienza shouted obscenities at Gustern — who was leaving a gathering with students — and “intentionally shoved her to the ground,” causing the vocal coach to fall on her head. Gustern suffered a brain injury that killed her several days after the attack.“I am really concerned about your apparent inability to take responsibility for your actions,” Mennin told Pazienza, who said prior to sentencing that she was “profoundly sorry” for her actions. “If it was my grandmother, I would be broken and my life would be shattered,” she said.
Gustern’s grandson A.J. also spoke during the sentencing and criticized Pazienza’s apology as “contrived.” “I curse you, Lauren Pazienza,” Gustern said, Newsday reported. “For the rest of your days, may you be miserable.”Gustern’s clientele included Blondie’s Debbie Harry, avant-garde heroine Diamanda Galás, Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, Broadway performers, downtown firebrands, and anyone who wanted to learn to sing. When it was time to hit a show to see her pupils, she’d walk up to a mile and a half. “She was 4’11” and probably weighed 70 pounds,” Harry previously told Rolling Stone following Gustern’s death. “She had the body of a child, but she was a dynamo in this little, tiny body. It was just astounding.”
“She was that rare New Yorker who wasn’t bitter,” Hanna said. “I wanted to be as generous and smart and good at my craft as she was. I wanted to be as well-read and funny; she’s fucking hilarious.”In August, Harry responded to Pazienza’s sentencing and condemned what she felt was a too-lenient sentence for the senseless crime. “It’s incomprehensible that proper justice for her murder was not delivered,” she said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “The city’s failure to administer adequate punishment — settling for a plea deal that will likely see Lauren Pazienza serve less than 8 years for murder — is a disservice to Barbara and the contributions she made to this city.”
yetagainitry on October 4th, 2023 at 03:21 UTC »
To recap this story. Pazienza is an entitled NYC brat who had an argument with her fiancé. As she heading home, she decided to take her anger out on a literal stranger shoving this old woman for no reason causing her death. I would love for her to have gotten 10yrs but with prison, and the permanence of the internet, this has effectively destroyed her life