Police: Woman Cursed at Broadway Singing Coach Before Fatal Shove

They say Lauren Pazienza, 26, stayed on scene for almost 20 minutes
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2022 2:29 AM CDT
Police Describe Details of Broadway Singing Coach's 'Senseless' Killing
Lauren Pazienza, 26, of Port Jefferson, NY, who was arrested in the death of a 87-year-old Broadway singing coach, arrives at court, in New York, Tuesday, March 22, 2022.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The woman accused of fatally shoving a Broadway singing coach to the sidewalk in an unprovoked attack allegedly stayed at the Manhattan scene until the ambulance arrived, then fled. According to the criminal complaint in the death of Barbara Gustern, 87, Lauren Pazienza was seen on surveillance footage involved in a physical altercation with a man believed to be her fiance about seven minutes after Gustern was pushed to the ground, Fox News reports. Then, about 13 minutes after the attack, Pazienza can be seen watching the ambulance take Gustern away, police say. She and her fiance then left, and were found again on surveillance video entering Penn Station a half-hour later.

The complaint says that before Gustern lost consciousness, she recounted what happened to a friend, saying Pazienza called her a "b----" and then shoved her "as hard as she had ever been hit in her life." Per the complaint, Pazienza did all this "for no apparent reason" after crossing the street to get to Gustern, CNN reports. Pazienza is then accused of deleting her social media accounts and wedding website in an effort to avoid being found; staying with her parents rather than at her own home; and leaving her cellphone at an aunt's house. She ultimately surrendered nearly two weeks after the attack, and faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted of manslaughter. (More New York City stories.)

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