Beloved Broadway Vocal Coach Barbara Maiers Dies of Injuries Following an Attack

On March 15, an arrest was made in connection with the murder of Barbara Maier Gustern.

On March 22, the 26-year-old suspect, Lauren Pazienza, turned herself in to police in connection with the 87-year-old Broadway vocal coach’s death, police said. Surrendering alongside her attorney, Arthur Aidala, who once represented high-profile clients such as Harvey Weinstein, said he anticipates Pazienza to plead a not guilty charge.

“The entire incident was just horrible. I heard the two didn’t even know each other,” said Euna J., a freshman at AISG. “You must be really messed up in the head to push a nearly 90-year-old woman, no matter the reason.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office classified Gustern’s death as a homicide, charging Panzienza with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault. Prosecutors say she can potentially face up to 25 years in jail.

Police state that Gustern was walking outside her apartment building on March 10 when suddenly a woman came up behind her and pushed her. After witnessing the attack, a bystander who rushed to aid Gustern told police Gustern told her the woman called her an expletive word and shoved her “as hard as she had ever been hit in her life” as she described it.

The nearly 90-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with massive head trauma after the assault, where she quickly lost consciousness upon arrival. She succumbed to her injuries five days later, on March 15.