The Bank of America vice president fatally stabbed in Times Square was a new mother on her first week back from maternity leave, according to a report.
Erin Piacenti, 32, was one of two people randomly attacked a short distance from her firm’s tower block in New York City Monday afternoon.
She had stopped in front of a vendor selling sunglasses while heading home from work she was stabbed, The New York Times reported. NYPD officers shot and killed the attacker, later named as 49 year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens.
Just days before the fatal incident, Piacenti had posted a picture on social media holding her newborn daughter and grinning, according to The Times.
open image in gallery“As my maternity leave comes to an end,” she wrote, “I could not be more grateful for every day of the last five months spent with this amazing little girl.”
Piacenti and her husband Frank had also recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary having married in August 2024, the Daily Mail reported.
The couple both graduated from one of the country’s top law schools, Fordham University, back in 2021.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the tragic and senseless loss of our alumna, Erin Piacenti,” a Fordham spokesperson told CBS News.
“Erin and her husband, Frank, graduated in 2021 and have been cherished members of the Fordham Law family.
“During this devastating time, our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies are with Frank, their families, and all who knew and loved Erin.”
open image in galleryPrior to attending Fordham, Piacenti graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a degree in political science.
Student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian said she had taken part in a slew of extracurricular activities during her time there, a member of both the Alpha Phi sorority and Dischord A Cappella.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters the NYPD was first alerted to the stabbing at around 4.20 p.m. Monday.
Witnesses told police that they saw Cisneros brandishing two knives before stabbing a 68-year-old man and then Piacenti.
The stabbings happened 20 seconds apart and appeared to be “random and unprovoked,” Tisch said.
open image in galleryWhen confronted by officers, Cisneros refused to drop her weapons, the commissioner added.
“I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you,” the 49-year-old said, according to Tisch.
After Cisneros repeated her threat and moved towards police officers, two Tasers were deployed before two firearms were used.
The older victim, named by The New York Times as Tak Kam, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and is in a stable condition.
Cisneros’ brother Patrick Peralta told the Gothamist she had psychiatric problems for decades but claimed she wasn’t aggressive.
The divorced mother-of-three had been taking medications and doing better in the last several years, working on and off in a legal office, according to Peralta.
“We really don’t know how to express or how to explain why this happened,” Peralta told Gothamist, expressing sympathy for the two victims’ families.