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Long Island native Lauren Pazienza, age 26, of Queens, hid at her parents' Long Island residence, in Port Jefferson, and proceeded to wipe her social media clean, including her wedding website, and stopped using her cell phone which she allegedly hid at an aunt's home Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney said in a statement in court.
Pazienza was arraigned on Tuesday, March 22 on charges of manslaughter and assault for the attack that killed Barbara Maier Gustern on Thursday, March 10, said the NYPD.
Gustern, age 87, who died five days later on Tuesday, March 15, told police before she slipped into unconsciousness that a woman later identified as Pazienza approached her near West 28th Street and 8th Avenue and called her an expletive before pushing her to the ground, McNabney said.
The incident occurred without provocation, McNabney said in court.
After the incident, security video showed Pazienza leaving the area as Gustern lay bleeding on the ground, McNabney said.
Minutes later, Pazienza was captured nearby on video in a physical fight with a man believed to be her fiancé, and she was later seen watching as an ambulance responded to take Gustern to the hospital, McNabney said.
She and her fiancé, who were scheduled to be married in June, were then captured on video leaving Manhattan at Penn Station, McNabney said.
From that point on, Pazienza made every effort to avoid apprehension, McNabney said in the statement.
After the tipster contacted police, detectives knocked on her parent's front door on Monday, March 21, where her father allegedly told officers she wasn't there, McNabney said.
Her attorney later contacted authorities and arranged for her surrender.
Pazienza is being held on a $500,000, Insurance Company Bond of $1,000,000, or Bond-Surety-Partially Secured $1,000,000.
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