Bank of America VP, New Mother, Killed in Random Times Square Stabbing

Bank of America VP, New Mother, Killed in Random Times Square Stabbing

Erin Piacenti, 32, was on her first day back from maternity leave when she was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack; suspect with mental health history shot dead by police.

A Bank of America vice-president, Erin Piacenti, has died after she was stabbed in a random attack at Times Square, New York City, on Monday afternoon. The 32-year-old, who lived in Chester, New Jersey, was walking home from work near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue when she was attacked. According to police, she had briefly stopped in front of a street vendor selling sunglasses and caps when the suspect, 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, approached her.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the attack was “random and unprovoked”. The incident began around 4:24 pm when Cisneros pulled two large knives from a shopping bag near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue. She first approached a 68-year-old man who had just exited the subway and was waiting to cross the street with his wife. The suspect stabbed him in the abdomen in what police described as a random attack. Approximately 20 seconds later, Cisneros walked up Seventh Avenue toward 42nd Street and stabbed Piacenti, also in the abdomen. A local vendor, Aliou Dieye, told The New York Times that he saw the woman in a pink T-shirt approach Piacenti without saying a word and stab her in the stomach.

Witnesses flagged down police officers, who confronted Cisneros near the scene. According to Commissioner Tisch, officers spent about four minutes trying to persuade her to drop the knives. During the standoff, Cisneros told officers: “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you.” Officers deployed a Taser stun gun, but it was ineffective, and Cisneros continued advancing toward them while swinging the knives. Two officers then fired their service weapons, striking the suspect.

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Both stabbing victims and Cisneros were taken to Bellevue Hospital. Piacenti died from her injuries. The 68-year-old male victim, a tourist from Rhode Island visiting his son, survived and was reported to be in stable condition. Cisneros was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police said Cisneros had a documented mental health history, with police encounters in 2018 and 2019, but no arrest record in New York City. Her brother, Patrick Peralta, told Gothamist she had struggled with psychiatric problems for decades but was not aggressive. She had been taking medication and had been doing better in recent years, working on and off in a legal office. Disturbing social media posts from Cisneros emerged after the attack. In a Facebook post from November 2025, she wrote about “the diminished love of people to the point of stabbing others for no reason.”

Piacenti worked as Vice President of Business Selection and Conflicts in Bank of America’s Manhattan office at One Bryant Park, just blocks from the attack. According to her LinkedIn profile, she had joined the bank approximately 18 months ago. She had recently returned to work after maternity leave and was on her first day back when she was killed. She and her husband, Frank, had welcomed a baby girl five months earlier. Four days before the attack, she shared a photo on social media of herself with her newborn daughter and husband, expressing gratitude for her maternity leave. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 and earned her law degree from Fordham Law School in 2021.

Bank of America confirmed Piacenti’s death in a statement: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague. She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones.” Matthew Koder, the bank’s President of Global Corporate & Investment Banking, described Piacenti as a “cherished teammate and friend” in an internal memo, adding that “her loss is being felt deeply by many.”

Bank of America VP, New Mother, Killed in Random Times Square Stabbing