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The Long Island woman accused of shoving a beloved 87-year-old voice coach to her death on a Manhattan street rejected a plea deal from prosecutors Tuesday that could have landed her behind bars for 15 years.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office twice offered Lauren Pazienza the recommended sentence in exchange for a guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter in the March 10 death of Barbara Maier Gustern, her attorney said.
But the fiery redhead — who looked drawn in court Tuesday, her signature locks cut and pulled back in a messy low ponytail — turned down the deal for the second time. She faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the manslaughter charge.
Pazienza, a former event organizer and scion of a Long Island cesspool empire, is accused of calling the elderly woman a “bitch” and pushing her to the ground in an unprovoked attack on West 28th Street in Chelsea. Gustern — a vocal coach for the likes of Blondie frontwoman and Big Apple icon Debbie Harry — died from her injuries five days later.
The Suffolk County native — who has been jailed on Rikers Island since a judge revoked her bail about two months ago — also faces two counts of second-degree assault. She has pleaded not guilty.
She’s “hanging in there,” her attorney Arthur Aidala told The Post Tuesday, adding, “I don’t think anyone in Rikers is looking forward to the heatwave, whether it’s the correction officers or inmates.”
Aidala had tried to get the top manslaughter count against his client thrown out. But acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Felicia Mennin ruled the charge could stand, citing minutes from the grand jury proceeding that resulted in Pazienza’s indictment.
“Obviously we are disappointed by the judge’s ruling,” Aidala told The Post on Tuesday. “We feel that pushing someone one time, not knowing their age or any disability rises to the level to satisfy the elements of manslaughter in the first degree. We will keep pursuing justice the best we can.”
Prosecutors say Pazienza flew into a rage after downing a few glasses of wine while celebrating her upcoming nuptials with her fiancé at nearby Chelsea Park, where the couple were told to leave because it was closing time.
The 5-foot-7 Pazienza allegedly threw food at her beau before crossing the street and shoving 4-foot-11 Gustern to the ground. Pazienza watched the initial aftermath, then fled, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors are still awaiting Gustern’s final autopsy report, Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney said during the brief court hearing Tuesday.
Pazienza, who wore a loose gray shirt, showed no emotion in court. Her parents, Caroline and Daniel, were in court for the proceedings and left holding hands.
When the brutal incident made the news — complete with surveillance images of the well-dressed assailant — Pazienza erased her social media accounts, stashed her cellphone and headed to her parents’ home in Long Island, prosecutors have said.
Following her arrest about two weeks after the attack, Pazienza was released on $500,000 bail — but was thrown back in jail May 10 after Mennin labeled her a “serious flight risk.”
A former student of Gustern’s who identified herself as Marie said she has been attending all of the court hearings and wants the alleged attacker to go to prison.
“Barbara was this saint-like person. An angel,” Marie told The Post. “Very sweet and loving and caring and generous and she’s walking down the street and this woman crosses the street and pushes her and she’s dead.”
Marie was relieved when Pazienza was put back behind bars after her “horrific and unfair” release on bail, she said.
“So now that she’s back in prison, I’m trying to watch this and understand what kind of argument they’re gonna make. Like, what are they gonna say — that she was just in a bad mood because she got kicked out of a park? And there is some sort of need for justice.”
Pazienza is due back in court on Sept. 14.
Additional reporting by Haley Brown
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