The angry Long Island socialite accused of killing an 87-year-old Manhattan voice coach by shoving her to the sidewalk in her haste to get past her has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will serve eight years in prison.
Barbara Gustern suffered traumatic brain damage when her head hit the sidewalk after Lauren Pazienza’s unprovoked attack on March 10, 2022. She died five days later, as CrimeOnline reported.
Gustern — whose clients included Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Taylor Mac, Justin Vivian Bond, Diamanda Galas, and Kathleen Hanna — was just steps away from her Chelsea home.
Through tears, Pazienza, 27, told the judge “yes” when asked if she committed the crime, WNBC reported. Sentencing is scheduled for September 29. As part of the plea deal, Pazienza will have five years of post-release supervision and surrenders her ability to appeal.
“Lauren Pazienza aggressively shoved Barbara Gustern to the ground and walked away as the beloved New Yorker lay there bleeding. Today’s plea holds Pazienza accountable for her deadly actions,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “We continue to mourn the loss of Barbara Gustern, a talented musical theater performer and vocal coach who touched so many in New York City and beyond.”
Pazienza and her fiance had been out drinking wine, celebrating their upcoming wedding, on the night of the attack. The couple were at Chelsea Park, a block away from Gustern’s residence, having a meal they’d bought from a food truck when a park employee told them they had to leave because the greenspace was closing, CrimeOnline reported.
At her bail hearing on May 10, prosecutors said she didn’t take it well.
“The defendant became angry, started shouting and cursing at the park employee, threw her food onto her fiancé, and stormed out of the park,” Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney told the court.
As she angrily stormed off, she encountered encountered Gustern, “called Gustern a “b**** and pushed her as hard as Ms. Gustern had ever been hit in her life,” the prosecutor said.
Gustern was able to give a friend an account of the shove before she lapsed into a coma.
Pazienza, meanwhile, watched from a hidden location as an ambulance took Gustern to a hospital, then fled to her parents’ home and began deleting her social media presence.
Investigators zeroed in on her as a suspect, and on March 21, went to the Long Island home, but Pazienza’s father, cesspool magnate Dan Pazienza, reportedly told them she wasn’t there.
The next day, after police publicly identified her as the suspect and released surveillance footage showing her near the scene, she surrendered.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Barbara Gustern/Facebook and Lauren Pazienza/Instagram]
