Lauren Pazienza biography: 13 things about Long Island, New York woman

Lauren A. Pazienza is an American woman who grew up in Setauket, Brookhaven, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States. She is an alumna of Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, Brookhaven.

Pazienza earned a bachelor’s degree in direct and interactive marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, New York City. She used to live in Port Jefferson, Brookhaven where her parents Daniel J. Pazienza III and Caroline Pace Pazienza are based.

On March 10, 2022, Lauren fatally shoved voice coach Barbara Maier Gustern, who was 87 years old and 4’11” tall. They did not know each other.

Lauren is 5’7″ tall. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In 2013, she graduated from Ward Melville High School.
2. In 2015, she attended the 40th anniversary party for New York society magazine Avenue.
3. She and her fiancé Naveen M. Pereira lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Shore Towers, a doorman building in Astoria, Queens, New York City. He and a relative are listed as the owners of the apartment, which was sold in 2019 for $540,000.
4. Amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which started in 2020, she worked as a communication and events coordinator for the furniture brand Roche Bobois in New York City while Pereira worked as a Microsoft customer support specialist.
5. In December 2021, she resigned from her job in New York City as a Roche Bobois communication and events coordinator.
6. At 8:30 p.m. on March 10, 2022, she allegedly called Gustern a “bitch” at West 28th Street and Eighth Avenue in New York City before pushing the elderly woman to the pavement without provocation. After the attack, she allegedly stayed in the area for about 20 minutes, argued with Pereira on a nearby sidewalk and returned to the crime scene to watch as an ambulance arrived. She and Pereira then took the train from Penn Station in New York City and at 9:50 p.m., they arrived home in Astoria. Gustern died in the hospital on March 15, 2022.
7. On March 16, 2022, she fled to her parents’ house in Port Jefferson. On March 17, 2022, she completely stopped using her cellphone, which she stashed at the home of her aunt in Long Island. To avoid apprehension, she deleted her wedding website and all her social media accounts.
8. On March 21, 2022, New York City Police Department detectives visited her parents home in Port Jefferson after receiving a tip that she was hiding out there. Her father claimed that she was not there and did not consent to a search of the property.
9. On March 22, 2022, she surrendered to the NYPD with an attorney and was arraigned in criminal court in Manhattan. Her parents attended the hearing. She was charged with first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault. Her bond was set at $500,000 cash or $1 million surety. Her defense attorney Arthur Aidala accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of overcharging her and argued that pushing someone who is on the sidewalk is not the same as pushing someone in front of a cliff or pushing someone in front of a moving train. Judge Michael Gaffey ordered her to undergo a medical exam and a mental health evaluation.
10. On March 25, 2022, her parents bailed her out of Rikers Island in the Bronx, New York City. She will appear in court on April 25, 2022.
11. On May 10, 2022, a judge revoked her bail and ordered her jailed on Rikers Island pending trial. She and Pereira were engaged to be married in June 2022.
12. On July 19, 2023, she rejected a plea deal from prosecutors that could have landed her behind bars for 15 years. On August 23, 2023, she admitted to fatally shoving Gustern and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
13. She was 28 years old when she was sentenced on September 29, 2023 to 8 years and 6 months and 5 years post-release supervision. After her 10-second apology, Aidala asked her to say more.