Times Square Victim Erin Piacenti Was New Mom Back at Work

New details show Bank of America VP Erin Piacenti had just returned from maternity leave days before a random Times Square stabbing claimed her life.

Police said 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens pulled two knives from a shopping bag, stabbed a 68-year-old man and then attacked Piacenti about 20 seconds apart, in what Commissioner Jessica Tisch called a random and unprovoked attack. Officers shot Cisneros dead after she refused to drop her weapons.

The new development in the story is who Piacenti was: a new mother on her first week back from maternity leave. Just four days before her death she posted a photo holding her newborn daughter beside her husband Frank, writing that she could not be more grateful for five months spent with 'this amazing little girl.' The couple had recently celebrated their daughter's baptism and their second wedding anniversary, making the random violence all the more devastating.

Piacenti graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a political science degree, where The Daily Pennsylvanian noted she was in the Alpha Phi sorority and Dischord A Cappella, and earned her law degree from Fordham Law School in 2021 alongside her husband Frank. She worked as vice president of business selection and conflicts at Bank of America, which said it was 'shocked and deeply saddened' and called her a valued teammate. Fordham Law called her and her husband cherished members of its community.

The suspect's father, Mario Cisneros, told ABC7 Eyewitness News that his daughter had been receiving monthly medication injections to treat some form of mental illness, that he saw her the week before and she seemed fine, and that she was not a violent person. He believes her struggles began after the birth of one of her children. Her brother Patrick Peralta told Gothamist she had psychiatric problems for decades but was not aggressive and had been doing better in recent years.

According to Commissioner Tisch, Cisneros brandished two kitchen knives, told officers 'I'm not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you,' and advanced toward them after Tasers were deployed, prompting two officers to fire. The male victim, identified by The New York Times as Tak Kam, was hospitalized in stable condition.

Investigators continue to probe a motive, with no clear reason for the attack identified so far. The tragedy has renewed public-safety concerns in Times Square and unsettled commuters in Chester, New Jersey, where resident Megan O'Hara told the Daily Mail that going into the city 'has gotten scarier' and that the loss feels 'like a family member passed away.' Bank of America said its security teams are supporting the police investigation and addressing office safety.