New York Woman Sobs in Court as Judge Tacks on Extra Jail Time For ‘Inability to Take Responsibility’ in Fatal Shove of Elderly Woman – Will Serve Only 8.5 Years
“Granny shover” Lauren Pazienza was sentenced to 8.5 years on Friday for the shoving death of 87-year-old Barbara Gustern.
The assault took place in March of 2022. Pazienza was out celebrating with her fiancé at Chelsea Park and was intoxicated. She was kicked out of the park after closing and after leaving, randomly shoved Gustern, who was 87 years old, to the ground for no reason. After sustaining a major head injury, she died in the hospital five days later.
Pazienza has been locked up at Rikers Island for over a year. She was officially sentenced Friday to 8.5 years for first-degree manslaughter. She decided to take the plea deal and not risk going to trial, which could have resulted in a 25-year sentence.
Long Island event planner Lauren Pazienza has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for shoving veteran Broadway singing coach Barbara Maier Gustern to her death in an unprovoked attack last year.
Pazienza, 27, attacked the 87-year-old vocal coach last March on a Chelsea sidewalk, forcefully shoving her to the ground. Pazienza was drunk and stoned at the time and had just lashed out at her fiancé.
She was celebrating ‘100 days’ before her wedding when she launched the unprovoked and senseless attack that outraged New Yorkers.
Today, after spending several months on Rikers Island, she wept as she was sentenced.
Her sentence was part of a plea deal in which she was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter.
Victim Barbara Gustern
Last month The Gateway Pundit reported on Pazienza pleading guilty to manslaughter charges in exchange for a shorter sentence.
She attempted to cover up the crime by deleting social media accounts, keeping her cell phone in a different location, and quitting her job. Considering the crime, her sentence was light compared with what she could have received if she had plead not guilty.
Pazienza was originally supposed to serve 8 years behind bars after she shoved an elderly woman to the ground and walked away.
The judge on Friday slapped on an extra six months jail time and sentenced Pazienza to 8.5 years. The judge said the extra jail time was for her ‘inability to take responsibility.’
“I am really concerned by your apparent inability to take responsibility for your actions,” the judge said, according to the New York Post.
According to The Post, Pazienza’s lawyer had to nudge her to give a second apology after she made the first apology about herself.
“I never should have pushed anybody, and I’m so sorry,” Pazienza said as she cried, according to The Post. “I wish I could take it back but God doesn’t turn back the clocks. I’m just so sorry.”
