The woman accused of shoving Broadway vocal coach Barbara Gustern, 87, resulting in her death, may have opened her parents up to criminal charges because she hid there for weeks after the attack.
Lauren Pazienza, 26, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter for the unprovoked attack. The New York Post reported that Karen Charrington, a former assistant district attorney for Bronx County, told the outlet that Pazienza’s parents could face charges for knowingly hiding and helping their daughter after she committed a crime.
But for her parents to face charges, Charrington said, prosecutors would have to prove the parents “provided criminal assistance to her” and that “they were helping her.” Potentially bolstering the case is the report that Pazienza’s father told cops she wasn’t there and refused to let them in when they came looking for her.
Charrington added, however, that charges against the parents would be difficult to prove.
“To simply say she’s not here … you don’t have an obligation to tell on another party, you don’t have an obligation to help law enforcement catch their suspect,” Charrington told the Post. “Lying to an officer happens all the time. You’d have to look at the specific facts of what the parents did.”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Pazienza turned herself in to police on Tuesday, 12 days after the unprovoked attack that left Gustern with a head injury that resulted in her death on March 16. Gustern was a famed vocal coach who trained Broadway stars and famed musicians such as Blondie singer Debbie Harry.
Pazienza was charged with manslaughter and was behind bars as of Wednesday, Inside Edition reported. The outlet reported on what it called a “disturbing timeline” following the attack.
“Police say Lauren Pazienza, 26, walked back to the scene six minutes after shoving 87-year-old Barbara Maier Gustern to the ground and watched as the ambulance arrived on the scene,” the outlet reported.
Police also said that Gustern was conscious long enough to say that her assailant had crossed the street and called her a “b****” before shoving her. “Authorities say Pazienza and her fiance, who works for Microsoft, got into the subway at Penn Station, transferred at Times Square, then took the train to their apartment in Queens, leaving a digital trail with the fiance’s Metrocard,” Inside Edition noted.
For the next few hours, Pazienza allegedly worked to remove her social media and photos and even removed the website for her June wedding, the outlet reported. A day later, Pazienza allegedly went to her parents’ home in Long Island and stayed there until turning herself in. She allegedly left her phone at her aunt’s home, and her father apparently told police Pazienza wasn’t at the house when they went to look for her following a tip. Police had received a tip from two people who “knew [Pazienza] well,” but were turned away by her father. A day later, however, Pazienza turned herself in while accompanied by an attorney.