NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Lauren Pazienza, the 26-year-old woman indicted in the fatal shoving of an 87-year-old voice coach Barbara Maier Gustern in Manhattan in March, was ordered held without bail Tuesday after pleading not guilty to manslaughter and assault charges.
The judge pointed to the apparent "random" nature of the crime and deemed Pazienza a potential flight risk in announcing the decision, according to reports.
“I’m concerned that Ms. Pazienzia is a flight risk — and is a serious flight risk,” Judge Felicia Menin said at her Tuesday morning arraignment in New York State Supreme Court, the Daily News reported.
“It appears that [the shove] was for a random reason. The victim in this case was apparently left lying on the sidewalk. The defendant walked away. She faces significant prison time if convicted. Although that may not seem a reality at this time, as the case proceeds, I have serious concerns it may affect her desire to return to court,” Menin said.
Pazienza, who was dressed in a black suit, pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault before the judge revoked her $500,000 bail and remanded her.
Pazienza, an event planner, was reportedly sprung from Rikers Island in March after her mom wrote a check for $500,000 to bail her out.
Pazienza’s attorney and parents apparently left the Manhattan court Tuesday without speaking to reporters.
During the court appearance, assistant D.A. Justin McNabney said Pazienza had “several glasses of wine” with her fiancé on the night of March 10 as the two toured art galleries in Chelsea and celebrated their upcoming wedding.
The couple was eating at Chelsea Park when a city Parks Department employee asked them to leave, according to McNabney.
“The defendant became angry, started cursing at the park employee, threw her food on to her fiancé,” McNabney said.
According to prosecutors, Pazienza then crossed W. 28th Street, near Eighth Avenue, around 8:30 p.m. and shouted obscenities at Gustern before shoving her to the ground. The two did not know each other.
Gustern fell and hit her head, causing massive hemorrhage to the left side of her brain. Pazienza walked away, leaving the octogenarian on the ground bleeding, prosecutors allege.
Gustern, whose clients included celebrities like Debbie Harry of Blondie, died at a hospital five days later on March 15 after she was removed from life support.
Prosecutors allege Pazienza stayed in the area of the attack for 20 minutes and that video footage shows her in a “physical altercation” with her fiancé as the ambulance arrived.
Pazienza then took the subway back to the couple’s apartment in Astoria and admitted to her fiancé later that night that she pushed Gustern, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Pazienza tried to avoid being captured by deleting her social media accounts and wedding registry. She went to her parents' home in Suffolk County on March 16 but ultimately surrendered to the NYPD on March 22.
“This was a senseless and unprovoked attack,” Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg said in a statement Tuesday.
“After allegedly walking away from Ms. Gustern as she laid on the ground bleeding, Lauren Pazienza went to great lengths to avoid accountability for her actions,” Bragg said.
Pazienza faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
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