The woman accused of pushing an 87-year-old New York City voice coach had a hearing Friday that could lead to a later indictment, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Lauren Pazienza, 26, who is accused of fatally shoving Barbara Maier Gustern in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, was arrested Tuesday on charges of manslaughter in the first degree and assault in the first degree.
Legal experts told NBC News earlier this week that Pazienza could face more serious charges. She’s due back in court on April 25.
March 22, 202201:14
Pazienza already faces as many as 25 years on the manslaughter charge, according to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney.
She is being held at the Rose M. Singer Center at Rikers on a $500,000 cash bail or $1 million insurance company bond, according to jail records.
Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, who has represented Harvey Weinstein and Rudy Giuliani, did not respond to requests for comment Friday. He said earlier in the week that she would make bail “in the coming days.”
“We anxiously await the production of the discovery material by the District Attorney’s Office. The Pazienza family joins the rest of the City in grieving the loss of Barbara Gustern,” Aidala said.
Pazienza is accused of pushing Gustern on the night of March 10. McNabney said that after the shove, Pazienza walked away from the scene briskly, leaving Gustern on the ground, bleeding profusely from her head.
But then she stayed in the area. She first got into a physical confrontation with her fiancé, and then stayed nearby long enough to watch an ambulance arrive for Gustern.
Pazienza and her fiancé were next seen north of Chelsea, at Penn Station, where they got on the subway to Astoria, Queens, McNabney said.
Lauren Pazienza.New York Police Department
Holed up in her Shore Towers condominium unit, Pazienza went about deleting every one of her social media profiles, including her LinkedIn account and her account on Zola, a site for engaged couples to post their registries and wedding details.
Pazienza and her fiancé were scheduled to be married in June, McNabney’s office said.
Gustern died on March 15 of blunt force trauma to the head, the city medical examiner’s office said.
The next day, as more media attention was brought to the case, Pazienza fled to her parents’ house on Long Island, McNabney said. She then stopped using her cellphone and eventually hid it at her aunt’s house.
Police detectives arrived at Pazienza’s parents’ house in Suffolk County on Monday. Her father said Pazienza was not home, according to McNabney. Her lawyer arranged for her to turn herself in Tuesday.
CORRECTION (March 25, 2022, 4:05 p.m. E.T.): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Lauren Pazienza was indicted. She had a hearing that could lead to an indictment; she has not been indicted.