NEW YORK — A Long Island woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a beloved Broadway vocal coach, the NYPD said Tuesday.
Lauren Pazienza, 26, of Port Jefferson, turned herself in to police in connection with 87-year-old Barbara Maier Gustern's March 15 death, police said. She surrendered alongside her attorney Arthur Aidala, who has represented many high-profile clients, including Harvey Weinstein and Rudy Giuliani. Aidala said he anticipates Pazienza to plead not guilty.
"They're absolute strangers and whether it was a push or whether it was a shove or whether it was a kick or whether someone tripped, the evidence is not very solid on that at all," Aidala said as he left the courthouse Tuesday. "Someone can bump into someone and you don't realize they're a frail person and they fall and hit their head."
The Manhattan district attorney's office charged her with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault Tuesday. Police on Monday classified Gustern's death as a homicide.
"This is clearly a case that has been way overcharged, but we're going to let the court process play out," Aidala said.
Manhattan criminal court Judge Michael Gaffey set bail at $500,000 and ordered a psychiatric evaluation. Pazienza's next court appearance is scheduled for Friday. She faces up to 25 years for the manslaughter charge, prosecutors said.
According to the Manhattan DA’s office, the NYPD received an anonymous tip identifying Pazienza as the attacker on Saturday and learned she was hiding out at her parents' Long Island home. On Monday morning, NYPD detectives visited the home and spoke with Pazienza's father who denied his daughter was there, prosecutors said. She surrendered the next morning.
Police said Gustern was walking outside her apartment building in Chelsea on March 10 when a woman crossed the street and pushed her from behind. According to prosecutors, an eyewitness who rushed to help Gustern after seeing the assault told police Gustern said the woman referred to her using an expletive and shoved her "as hard as she had ever been hit in her life."
The 87-year-old was hospitalized with massive head trauma after the attack and quickly lost consciousness upon arrival, prosecutors said in court Tuesday. She succumbed to her injuries on March 15, police said.
Prosecutors allege Pazienza remained in the area for over 20 minutes, had a physical altercation with a man police believe to be her fiancé, and then watched the ambulance arrive to bring Gustern to the hospital.
In the following days, Pazienza deleted her social media and wedding website, authorities said. When Gustern's death was announced on March 16, she fled to her parents’ home and stopped using her cellphone, prosecutors said in court.
Gustern, who worked on Broadway for years, coached vocalists including "Blondie" lead singer Debbie Harry. In a statement provided to NY1 after Gustern's death, Harry said she was "going to miss having Barbara around."
"I will be using her warm up exercises on my next tour and into the future tour,” Harry said. “She has been a wonderful inspiration to all her students. This is indeed a sad day in NYC.”
Gustern was an “extraordinary woman,” her friend Barbara Bleier told NY1.
“She represented, for so many people, what was possible for life in your 80s," Bleier said. "She's been robbed of her vitality, and we've been robbed of her vitality, her wisdom, her support, her love for her community.”