Parents Of Woman Charged With Shoving Broadway Vocal Coach To Death Could Face Charges For 'Helping Her Hide Out'
The parents of 26-year-old New York event planner Lauren Pazienza, Caroline and Daniel Pazienza could wind up in front of a judge for allegedly hiding their daughter from police after she reportedly shoved an elderly vocal coach, causing her death.
Law enforcement was on the hunt for Pazienza before she ultimately turned herself in — but now legal analysts are claiming her parents could possibly get roped into the case after they supposedly "helped her hide out at their Long Island home for two weeks."
Pazienza was charged with one count of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault after she allegedly pushed Barbara Gustern, 87, to the ground in Manhattan after calling the elderly woman a "b---h."
Gustern was helped up by a biker only to find out that she was bleeding profusely from the head. She was taken to a hospital by ambulance and died 5 days later on March 15th.
Pazienza allegedly spent the next two weeks, after the incident, trying to cover her tracks. She reportedly quit her job, deleted all of her social media pages, and even stashed her cell phone at her aunt's house in Long Island.
Prosecutors claim that days after the alleged shoving, NYPD detectives visited Pazienza's parents' Long Island home after receiving a tip that Lauren had been hiding out there. According to the prosecutors, her father claimed she was not at home and did not consent to a search of their property.
Lauren surrendered the following day.
She was released from Rikers Island on $500,000 cash bail Friday morning but still could face up to 25 years in prison. Legal experts expect the manslaughter charge to stick as evidence of the alleged assault and her reported attempt to skip town continue to pile up.
Former Bronx prosecutor Michael Discioarro spoke with Daily Mail saying, "The question is, in pushing down an 80-year-old onto the pavement ... did you intend to physically injure her?" Discioarro added, "That's a question for the jury or the grand jury, but I believe that facts that I know now make out that [manslaughter] charge."
According to the criminal complaint, Pazienza "made every effort to avoid detection."
When police were tipped off that she was allegedly hiding out in her parents' Long Island home, her father reportedly answered the door but refused to allow detectives to enter the premises.
The criminal complainant claims, "It was only at that point, despite all of the media attention that this incident has received, despite the fact that the defendant knew what she had done when she fled the city, despite the pleas from the victim's loved ones begging for the perpetrator to come forward, that the defendant's counsel contacted the police and arranged for her to surrender."
Following Pazienza's arraignment, Gustern's grandson AJ Gustern expressed his relief that Pazienza faces a trial for the killing.
The party coordinator's lawyer spoke to news outlets after her release saying, "Nobody doubts that this is a tragedy. We’re just going to get to the bottom of what really happened that day after we have all the evidence that’s in possession of the prosecutors because we don’t have any evidence."
Pazienza is due back in court for arraignment on April 25th.