A 26-year-old woman accused of shoving an 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach to the sidewalk and causing her death during a ‘wine rampage’ has rejected a 15-year plea deal offered by prosecuters for a second time.
Lauren Pazienza was handcuffed in court on Tuesday. She rejected Alvin Bragg, the woke Manhattan District Attorney’s plea agreement. According to the New York Post, she also did not get her manslaughter case dropped. She is facing up to 25-years in prison.
On March 10, Barbara Gustern, a New York City event planner, was attacked unprovoked as she crossed the street to catch a taxi outside her Chelsea apartment. The events planner allegedly called the elderly woman a ‘b***h’ and shoved her to the ground. The injuries she sustained led to her death five days later.
In April she was arrested for manslaughter. She pleaded not guilty. According to the Post, she has been detained on Rikers Island ever since a judge lifted her bail.
Arthur Aidala was Pazienza’s legal representative and told the Post Tuesday that he wasn’t happy that Felicia Mennin, Manhattan Superior Court Judge, refused to drop the manslaughter case.
Lauren Pazienza, who was in handcuffs on Tuesday morning, rejected Alvin Bragg’s plea offer. After she was accused of stabbing Barbara Gustern at 87 and causing her death, she has pleaded not guilty.
Pazienza was accused of an attack against Barbara Gustern, who she allegedly launched on March 10, when Gustern was trying to cross the road in order to hail a cab from her Chelsea home. The events planner allegedly called the elderly woman a ‘b***h’ and shoved her to the ground. Five days later, she died of her injuries.
Pazienza was accompanied by her parents to court, where she appeared with her daughter for the first-time in three months
Pazienza was seen in court Tuesday wearing handcuffs, a medical mask, and with her hair down in a low bun. She was accompanied by her parents who came with her to the courtroom.
Pazienza is being held at Rikers Island ever since May, when Judge Mennin denied her bail and claimed she was a risk.
Mennin stated at that time, ‘I am concerned Ms. Pazienza may be a flight danger – and it is a severe flight risk.’ It appears that [the shove]It happened for an unknown reason. In this instance, the victim was apparently found lying on the street. The defendant then walked off.
Mennin stated that she would face significant jail time if she was convicted. While it might not appear that way at the moment, as this case progresses, I am concerned about her willingness to go back to court.
On the night of the attack, Pazienza was celebrating the countdown to her wedding with her fiancé, Naveen Pereira, visited several art galleries in Chelsea.
There were 100 days left before their big day. They are expected to tie the knot in June 18th.
Before Pazienza and her husband headed out to Chelsea, they had drank several bottles of wine from various galleries. They were eating their meals when an employee at the park approached them. He said that they should leave as soon as possible because the park would be closing.
‘The defendant became angry, started shouting and cursing at the park employee, threw her food onto her fiancé, and stormed out of the park,’ McNabney said.
Pazienza and her fiancé were out celebrating the 100 day countdown to their wedding scheduled for June 18 when the incident occurred. Pazienza was a wine snob and had tried several classes before she threw a tantrum.
Pazienza and her fiancé took off in two different directions with Pereira heading towards the Astoria apartment the pair shared, he told prosecutors. Pazienza continued walking towards West 28th Street, near Eighth Avenue, where she found the vocal coach.
Meanwhile, the victim, Gustern had finished rehearsal nearby when Pazienza allegedly called her a ‘b***h’ and shoved her onto the sidewalk.
Pazienza proceeded to call her fiancé after the incident and allegedly watched as an ambulance arrived to help Gustern and carry her away, according to prosecutors. Gustern succumbed to her injuries in hospital 5 days later.
Pazienza passed by Barbara Gustern, 87, when she called her a ‘b***h’ and pushed her into the cement. Pazienza proceeded to call her fiancé in rage before watching paramedics take Gustern to the hospital where she died five days later
After surveillance footage showed Pazienza walking along the same street Gustern was pushing moments earlier, police were looking for her. Pazienza fled Long Island and hid there for eleven days until she surrendered to police. Pazienza was charged with assault and manslaughter.
Prosecutors say Pazienza didn’t mention anything about shoving Gustern to her fiancé.
‘Instead, she started to argue with her fiancé, accusing him of ruining her night,’ a prosecutor said. ‘Right before they went to bed that night, the defendant finally, for the first time, turned to her fiancé and told him that she had pushed someone. After she said that the defendant thought she had fallen, she turned to her fiance and walked off.
Pazienza told her fiancé she pushed Gustern because she might have said something to her but she wasn’t sure.
After the incident Pazienza ran to Long Island with her parents and deleted all of her social media accounts.
The incident left her free for 11 days, but she surrendered to NYPD after they released photographs asking for public help.
Her charges included assault and murder. She was initially released on $500,000 bail, but she was later remanded by a judge because she is considered a flight risk.