Lauren Pazienza Pleads Guilty To Killing Broadway Coach Barbara Gustern, 87, By Knocking Her To The Ground In ‘Unprovoked’ Attack

Lauren Pazienza pleaded guilty to killing an 87- year-old Broadway singing coach by ramming her onto a sidewalk in Manhattan. In doing so, she’s managed to avoid an extensive amount of time behind bars, reducing her sentence to eight years in prison.

Pazienza, 28, was extremely emotional when she publicly confessed to her crime of having assaulted Barbara Maier Gustern on March 10, 2022.

It was discovered that after the vicious attack, Gustern had been lying down helplessly on the concrete sidewalk, bleeding out as Pazienza fled from the scene.

Although Pazienza pleaded guilty in court, Gustern’s close relatives and family members are not happy with the plea deal and reduced sentence in prison, as Pazienza could have potentially gone on to face a maximum of 25 years had she been convicted at trial.

Pazienza, formerly employed as an event planner who grew up in Suffolk County, Long Island, is currently serving time by the city’s infamous Rikers Island correctional facility complex after a judge revoked her bail back in May 2022. Pazienza is scheduled to be formally sentenced on September 29 later this year. The time in which she has already been serving will be counted toward the sentence she is facing.

According to prosecutors in court, Pazienza shoved Gustern hard on the sidewalk after storming out of a local park, where she and her fiancé were enjoying meals they had purchased from a food cart. 

According to her friends, Gustern had just exited her apartment in order to try catching one of her student’s performances after hosting a rehearsal for an eagerly anticipated cabaret show.

Pazienza had reportedly downed multiple glasses of wine earlier in the day in order to celebrate a special milestone with her fiancé in their wedding countdown. She grew frustratingly upset when she and her fiancé were told to exit the park located in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood because it was closing time.

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It was on West 23rd Street when Pazienza stumbled upon Gustern and assaulted her in what police are describing as “an unprovoked, senseless attack.” Gustern immediately hit her head on impact. She was listed in critical condition when she arrived at the hospital. She died on March 15.

In an interview with the police following the attack, Pazienza’s fiancé informed the officers that she told him about what went down and said that Gustern “might have said something” to Pazienza.