The woman who is suspected of the fatal shoving of an 87-year-old vocal coach surrendered to the New York Police Department (NYPD) and was charged with manslaughter.
The 26-year-old identified as Lauren Pazienza from Port Jefferson surrendered on Tuesday at the 10th Precinct. The victim was identified to be Barbara Maier Gustern who was an active performer and voice coach.
Manslaughter of 87-Year-Old Vocal Coach
The incident reportedly occurred on Mar. 10 while the victim was wrapping up rehearsal in Chelsea when Pazienza approached the grandmother from behind and forcefully pushed her to the ground. The incident caused Gustern to suffer a severe head injury and she was later taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Five days later, police authorities announced that the 87-year-old succumbed to her injuries from the incident. The suspect was scheduled to walk down the aisle in June but she was recently seen hiding her face with her long red hair while being escorted by police.
Onlookers at the precinct were quick to comment on the suspect's vile actions, with one saying, "horrible, absolutely horrible." The Chelsea residents who made the remarks did not want to be identified but criticized Pazienza for shoving an old lady, as per ABC7New York.
Pazienza allegedly called Gustern a "b**ch" before shoving her and later watched as the ambulance took the victim away for treatment. The suspect was on the run from authorities for 12 days, fleeing to her Astoria apartment and hiding out in her parents' Long Island home before surrendering to authorities.
In a statement, Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney said that Pazienza crossed the street, approached the victim directly, made her profane remarks, and shoved her to the ground. Gustern was the one who detailed the events of the attack that left her "bleeding profusely from the head."
According to the New York Daily News, a video recording showed the suspect having a "physical altercation" with her husband seven minutes after the attack on Gustern. A prosecutor said that doctors tried to perform life-saving surgery on the victim but were unable to restore brain function. They added that the suspect was held on $500,000 bail or a $1 million bond.
Evading Police Authorities
Two spokespeople for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Naomi Puzzello and Caitlyn Fowles, said that Pazienza did not enter a plea deal in relation to the crime. The criminal complaint alleged that there was no "apparent reason" for the attack.
The complaint added that the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner concluded that Gustern's cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. In a Facebook post last week, the victim's grandson, AJ Gustern, said that his grandmother's death resulted in one less bright flame in the world.
Prosecutors also accused Pazienza of attempting to evade apprehension for the attack by deleting her social media accounts and her wedding website. She is also believed to have stopped using her mobile phone and kept it at her aunt's house to avoid being discovered by authorities, said McNabney, CNN reported.
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