Woman denied bail in fatal shove of B’way voice coach
The Queens woman charged with killing a beloved Broadway singing coach failed to convince a Manhattan judge to release her from jail on Tuesday.
Lauren Pazienza’s lawyers cited her therapy sessions as evidence she’s remorseful for fatally shoving 87-year-old Barbara Maier Gustern to the ground in Chelsea on March 10, when they once again requested bail.
Chief Justice Ellen Biben found another judge was reasonable in revoking Pazienza’s $500,000 bail on May 10 because she posed a “serious risk of flight.”
Biben said Pazienza, 26, made “significant efforts” to evade arrest for the 12 days after her deadly encounter with Gustern on W. 28th St.
Pazienza (photo) followed news coverage of Gustern’s death after five days on life support and knew police were looking for her when she hid out at her parents’ Port Jefferson, L.I., home, “hoping she would not be found,” said prosecutor Justin McNabney.
She also deleted her social media profiles and stashed her cell phone at a relative’s home. On March 19, a tipster told the NYPD that Pazienza was at her parents’ house, but her father denied it when detectives visited on March 21. Her lawyer contacted cops and arranged for her to surrender the following day “only after police knocked on her parents’ door,” said McNabney.
Pazienza, a former Roche Bobois event planner was granted the sizable bail after her arrest on March 22. Her family took about three days to come up with the money while she cooled her heels at Rikers Island.
But when Pazienza, who is charged with manslaughter, appeared in court following her indictment, Judge Felicia Mennin feared the suspect would bolt and remanded her to jail.
Pazienza’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala said his client when stunned she was unexpectedly detained. “I don’t think anybody expected that to happen. Not even the prosecution,” Aidala said. “This was an extraordinary circumstance.”
In hours before her fatal encounter with Gustern, a revered voice coach for singers like Debbie Harry, Pazienza was out boozing it up with her fiancé, celebrating 100 days until their wedding.
The couple grabbed a bite in Chelsea Park, where Pazienza dumped her food on her betrothed, stormed out of the park and into Gustern’s path, according to authorities’ timeline.
Before Gustern lost consciousness from a bleeding head wound, she told people at the scene “a woman of about 30 years old with long, dark hair ran across the street directly at her, called her a ‘b——h,’ and pushed her,” according to prosecutors.