A woman who killed an 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach by pushing her to the ground in New York City pleaded guilty Wednesday and will be sentenced to eight years in prison, the district attorney said.
Lauren Pazienza, now 28, shoved Barbara Maier Gustern to the ground from behind in the Chelsea neighborhood on March 10, 2022, officials said at the time.
Should the headline not describe her more accurately as “murderer” instead of “woman”. Like, why does her gender even matter? The fact that she killed another human being matters a lot more. It should read “A murderer…”
And people have the goddamn gall to argue when I state that our society, and the justice system in particular, heavily favor women. Any guy that did this exact same crime would have gotten 2x the sentence.
Earlier this very week there was that other wacko girl that killed her boyfriend and a friend when she intentionally slammed her SUV into a house at 100 MPH. She murdered 2 people and only got about 15 years in prison.
You might want to edit that again. The rapist Brock Allen Turner goes by just his middle name now. The rapist Allen Turner has been seen partying in Ohio bars and clubs recently. Stay safe ladies of Ohio.
Have you ever heard of Brock Turner, or maybe Johnny Depp? Good luck getting any women to go near you though.
Besides, these sentences are insane in general and modern first world societies (meaning not the US) do not focus on punishing people like we do. They focus on rehabilitation because it’s a service to society, because they actually give a shit about their societies. So the fact that anyone can think that fifteen years of being locked in a cage getting angrier and angrier with no psych help and shit for healthcare “isn’t enough,” really says something about the people who endorse that.
This fucking sub-human murdered an innocent woman at random because she was having a temper tantrum after being kicked out of a city park. And she only gets 8 fucking years?
So, if I understand this right, it’s mostly OK to kill people at random in NYC? That’s the message this extremely light sentence conveys.
I always found the thought alone scary. Imagine losing one year of your life locked up. Everything around you would just ‘move past’ while you’re caged in. Now imagine eight years of your past life and how much happened in that time and what you would have missed.
I don’t think any country should have lifelong (timely unlimited) sentences, they’re incredibly cruel, maybe worse than death.
Yeah, I think prison should be reserved for people who are an immediate danger to society. She probably qualifies, but I’d say that any continued imprisonment should be determined by a parole board, including a professional psychologist or something.
that's exactly what i am saying lol.
prison should be used much more conservitavely and be seen as a measure to protect the victim/public, not to punish the perpetrator.
We actually did have a ruling like that in Germany, so our highest available punishment, “lifelong” prison sentences aren’t what the name implies. They are long, always more than 15 years and usually above 20, but eventually you get out.
There is another measure available to keep people locked up indefinitely, “Sicherheitsverwahrung”, which keeps getting extended if they are considered to remain a large threat to society. But it’s not supposed to be a punishment, so they get more commodities at least.
She gets to have a life after those 8 years. The woman she killed doesnt. Her family never gets to see her again. She’s GONE because of this bitch and there’s no bringing her back.
You clearly have no idea what life with a serious criminal record is like if you think she’s going to be able to just pick up where she left off when she gets out (nevermind the lost 8 years).
Don’t get me wrong, what she did was fucked up, but an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, and it sounds like the only sentence you’d have been happy with is more or less life in prison. She didn’t set out to kill this lady, even in the heat of the moment. It’s beyond fucked up to shove an old lady in any case, and every single day of those 8 years is well earned, but I don’t agree that it’s light.
As a society we need to get over this idea that the goal of prison is to punish the perpetrators. The point should be to rehabilitate them so that when they get out they can be decent law abiding, productive members of society. A person rotting in prison for the rest of their life does nothing but waste tax dollars and cause misery. A person rehabilitated can go on to make the world a tiny bit better, and maybe even help someone else from going down the same fucked up path she did.
Its a fact that countries whose prison systems are centered around rehabilitation have lower repeat offender rates
Her family is wealthy, she’ll be fine when she gets out. If we were using an eye for an eye she’d be executed.
As for rehabilitation, there are 8 billion people on this planet. We can afford to dump the shitty ones in dark hole for the rest of their lives. There’s more than enough good people that need help and aren’t getting it those resources could go to.
I’ve worked with several ex cons. They were doing okay. The last place I worked hired a fucking convicted child molester OF HIS OWN CHILD. If that dude could get a job anyone can.
It wasn’t murder, because it wasn’t pre-meditated and she likely didn’t intend to kill when she did it. Manslaugher and assault seem the correct charges. I’m not making excuses for her, she deserves jail over this. But all those mitigating factors matter when you compare this case with murder cases that get 20+ years.
It must suck to be a judge, and have to decide that taking some lives are worth more or less than taking others.
Lauren Pazienza is a 28-year-old Long Island resident who was accused of fatally shoving 87-year-old vocal coach Barbara Gustern in Chelsea, New York City in March 2022[1].
Pazienza pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and assault in the death of Gustern and was described by prosecutors as having a tantrum before pushing the voice coach[2]. In August 2023, Pazienza pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 8 years in prison[3][4][5].
Pazienza grew up in an idyllic part of Long Island, where her dad Daniel runs a successful business in Holtsville that has previously been ranked the No. 1 cesspool company in Suffolk County for service and price[1]. She attended Ward Melville High School in nearby Setauket with her future fiancé, now a Microsoft employee[1].
Pazienza was seen gallivanting around town, attending swanky clubs and art gallery openings, but neighbors at the upscale Astoria condo where she lived with her boyfriend said she wasn’t all smiles at home[1]. Law enforcement sources say that Pazienza was a known nuisance in the Shore Towers, and had previously called the cops on her neighbors[1][6].
What does calling the cops on neighbors have to do with a manslaughter trial though. There can be people who have a legitimate reason to do that, and then there’s those people who are calling the cops every other day, but it doesn’t specify. It’s just kind of comical that that would be used to somehow legitimate a completely unrelated manslaughter conviction.
Uh wtf? Why did she yell at a nearly 90 year old lady and cross the street to shove her to the ground? Unless I'm missing something, the girl in the photo just seems to be mentally unwell.
Well thanks for you high value opinion. If there was just a different way for you to voice your dissent with my way of expression. Like maybe a thumbs down or something like that.
But there's no such thing so I'm reliant on your written feedback mister comedy critic who goes online to argue about what is funny.
Holy shit you're fucking stupid. Do you honestly not expect me to just go look at the vote counts? Are you that convinced of your own superiority that you think other people are too lazy to scroll upwards in the same fucking thread?
Jesus Christ half of this site is completely insufferable.
Well it appears Flying Squid has his ass cheeks firmly wrapped around his own neck, so maybe Flying Squid should go fuck himself since he's already so far up Flying Squid's ass.
Hank’s first comment has 16 upvotes, your leading comment has 9 upvotes. Hank’s comment does have more downvotes, putting the total vote tally in the negative, but he technically has more upvotes.
Idk, the guy who mentioned it worded it similar to “he has more upvotes than any of your comments have”, which is technically true. You said it wasn’t true, suggesting he was looking at downvotes, but the fact is that BOTH his upvotes and downvotes are higher.
I really enjoy when people are ambivalent about what I come up with. That means people start thinking and I like that more than simple agreement. Thank you for telling me your honest opinion.
People shit on us all the time. We don't mind as we get along with most of the world when it comes down to business and we like to criticize ourselves actually more than most foreigners like to.
Tantrum because she was told she had to leave a park because it would be closing soon. I read a few articles and skimmed one more. Sounds like she was an entitled piece of shit.
She was known as a socialite around NYC, and grew up well-off in Long Island as the daughter of, believe it or not, the owner of the #1 cesspool company. So yes, the killer is fairly affluent.
She tried to hide out in Long Island with mummy and daddy. They probably should have taught her about consequences and self-control when she was growing up. Affluenza strikes again.
I meant that I didn’t know we still built/maintained what are still called cesspools. It sounds like a name for something that used to be common but is no longer built because we have modern sewage treatment plants.
No, that’s very specific and you can put an exact number on someone who is in the top 2%
I’m referring to statements in this thread, where we don’t know shit about this ladies finances, other than her dad has a “successful” business. People making assumptions about her wealth. What does being a “socialite” even mean? She likes going to art galleries and events? Spoiler alert - anyone can do that, don’t assume these are things that cost money (other than what it costs to catch a train/cab/Uber to get there, and possibly price of admission, which might not even be a lot either).
She’s going to prison for a few years, she clearly ain’t got the resources many people here assume she does.
I’m not sure why you insist on arguing that point. I don’t agree with your logic that she “ain’t” got resources simply because she’s going to prison for murdering someone. Avoiding prison for murder is more of a top .1% kind of thing and nobody has suggested that.
My problem is with people assuming she is wealthy and what does that even mean, it’s such a relative term. She just looks like a nobody to me who did something bad and will pay the consequences, like most other people. I just don’t understand why people are throwing her into the top 2% of this country based on this headline
Pazienza’s fatal shove of the respected coach came during a drunken rampage on a night of celebrating her upcoming nuptials with her fiancé at West 28th Street, prosecutors have said.
The 5-foot-7 Pazienza encountered the 4-foot-11 Gustern after becoming enraged by a Parks Department worker kicking her and her beau out of Chelsea Park — where the pair had been eating dinner — because the green space was closing, according to the DA’s office.
After throwing her food at her lover, Pazienza crossed the street and randomly attacked Gustern — and then coldly walked away as the elderly woman bled from her head, officials said.
“Notice how she didn’t go after some 6-foot-tall, 200-pound guy – she went after my 80-pound grandmother,” Gustern’s grandson said after Wednesday’s hearing.
Following the attack, Pazienza took the subway back to her Astoria home, where she finally disclosed to her fiancé that she had shoved someone hours later. \ After seeing on the news that the beloved vocal coach had died – and spotting herself in surveillance images released by police – Pazienza deleted all of her social media accounts, removed her wedding website and fled to Long Island to stay with family, the DA’s office said. … But Pazienza’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, has claimed that Pazienza was so bombed off of a cocktail of wine, weed and prescription drugs that she could not have possibly known what she was doing, or had the required “intent” for the manslaughter charge to stick.
Drugs and alcohol everytime. Where was her finance during this rampage? Thank you for the Details she going have pay for her consequences. Hopefully she sobers up and cleans up. That lady should have never died that way.
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