Suspect allegedly shoved 87-year-old Broadway coach to sidewalk
‘The Five’ discuss a woman charged with manslaughter after allegedly shoving an 87-year-old vocal coach from behind in an unprovoked attack.
A tentative trial date has been set for the New York event planner accused of shoving an 87-year-old Broadway voice coach to her death earlier this year after an alleged temper tantrum with her fiancé.
Lauren Pazienza, 26, is tentatively scheduled to head to trial on October 6, when she’ll face possible conviction on charges of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault. The trial date was set during a brief appearance in a New York City courtroom on Tuesday.
Pazienza wore handcuffs, beige pants, a white, long-sleeved shirt and her hair up as she made her short appearance. She turned, paused and nodded to her parents, who were present for the hearing, before leaving the courtroom.
Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, already indicated in court on Tuesday that he might seek to delay the trial’s start.
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Left: Lauren Pazienza in a New York City court on August 16, 2022; Right: Barbara Gustern in this undated photo (POOL/Curtis Means;Facebook )
Pazienza has remained housed in a jail cell on New York City’s infamous Rikers Island since early May, when a judge remanded the woman after investigators revealed new information from her fiancé.
Prior to then, she was free on $500,000 bond. She has pleaded not guilty to the trio of charges.
Pazienza, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, is accused of committing an "intentional act" against 87-year-old Gustern and allegedly wanting to "cause serious physical injury."
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Lauren Pazienza in a New York City court on August 16, 202 (POOL/Curtis Means)
Court papers previously obtained by Fox News Digital described how Pazienza was with her fiancé on the night of the fatal shove. She and the man were celebrating a milestone in the lead-up to their June wedding date and had been eating food inside the nearby Chelsea Park, court papers state.
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But when a park worker asked them to leave because the park was closing, Pazienza "threw her food onto her fiancé and stormed out of the park," the document alleges.
She then allegedly stormed down West 28th Street toward Gustern, called the woman a "b----" and shoved her onto the pavement, where she hit her head. Gustern, who is said to have weighed less than 100 pounds, later died.
Pazienza then allegedly called her fiancé and tore into him for "ruining her night," but never told him about the woman she had pushed, prosecutors said. She didn’t reveal the violent events until later in the day, when they had arrived at their Queens home.
"[H]er only explanation" to her fiancé was that the victim "might have said something," court documents state.
Lauren Pazienza, 26, allegedly rushed Barbara Gustern, 87, called her a "b----" and shoved her from behind in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. (NYPD/Barbara Maier Gustern/Facebook)
When Pazienza learned that Gustern had died, she allegedly grew "really scared and nervous," deleted her social media profiles and went to stay at her aunt’s house. She turned herself in after police showed up at her parents’ Long Island home.
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A New York City medical examiner previously told the court Gustern’s head injuries would have required "substantial force."
Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.
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