Erin Piacenti, a Bank of America vice president from Chester, New Jersey, has been named as the 32-year-old mother was stabbed to death in a random attack in Times Square on Monday, just hours after returning to work following maternity leave.
Piacenti was walking through the busy Manhattan tourist district on her way home from work when she was attacked. She was stabbed in the abdomen and rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Piacenti had returned to work that day after spending several months on maternity leave following the birth of her daughter, Madison, who is now five months old.
Police identified the attacker as Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens. According to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the attack appeared to be random and unprovoked.
Police said Cisneros first attacked a 68-year-old man who was waiting to cross the street with his wife near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue. She pulled two kitchen knives from a shopping bag and stabbed him before attacking Piacenti seconds later.
The man survived and was hospitalized in stable condition.
After the two stabbings, Cisneros continued north through Times Square while carrying a knife in each hand.
Police officers confronted her on Seventh Avenue and repeatedly ordered her to drop the weapons. According to police, officers spent several minutes attempting to persuade her to surrender before three officers fired Tasers, which failed to stop her.
Cisneros then moved toward the officers while still holding the knives, and two officers opened fire. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police said Cisneros had a documented history of mental health problems and previous mental-health-related encounters with law enforcement, but no New York City arrest record. Authorities have not identified a connection between Cisneros and either of the victims, and police said there was no indication that the attack was connected to terrorism.
The New York Attorney General's Office has since opened an investigation into Cisneros' death. Such investigations are required under New York law when a police officer may have caused a person's death.
Piacenti was an attorney who graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 2021 and later joined Bank of America, where she served as a vice president. She had previously attended the University of Pennsylvania.
Bank of America said it was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the killing and expressed condolences to Piacenti's family and loved ones.
Piacenti is survived by her husband, Frank, and their five-month-old daughter. The couple, who met while studying at Fordham Law School, had recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary.
A fundraiser established for Madison following her mother's death has drawn thousands of donations, with supporters contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the child's future.
Piacenti's family has asked that she be remembered for her life rather than the circumstances of her death, describing her as a devoted mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend.
The NYPD is continuing to investigate the attack.