Times Square Killing Claims Bank of America VP Erin Piacenti Just After Milestone Celebration and Return to Work
After five months of maternity leave, Erin Piacenti returned to work Monday, only for her journey home through Times Square to end in tragedy. The 32-year-old Bank of America vice president was fatally wounded in what police described as a random stabbing.
Erin had spent the previous five months caring for her newborn daughter before heading back to the office that week. Alongside the changes in her young family with husband Frank Piacenti, she had been advancing a banking career after first making her mark in law.
The attack also injured a 68-year-old man, who was hospitalized. Erin did not survive.
Authorities found no apparent link between the two victims. Police allege that Pamela Cisneros encountered them by chance as she attacked people near one of New York City’s most heavily traveled intersections.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the violence "random and unprovoked," adding, "One life, cut far too short by a senseless act of violence."
By the time Erin crossed Pamela’s path, the attack was already underway.
The Times Square Attack
Police said Pamela first confronted Rhode Island resident Tak Kam, 68, near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue. As he walked toward an Amtrak train bound for Rhode Island following a visit with his son in Brooklyn, she allegedly stabbed him with a kitchen knife.
Pamela then headed north toward Times Square. About 20 seconds later, she came upon Erin and stabbed her in the abdomen.
Tak survived and remained in the hospital Tuesday. His son is a Citigroup vice president.
Erin’s Career and Education
At 32, Erin had already assembled a wide-ranging résumé that included corporate banking, legal work and experience with Major League Baseball.
Bank of America hired her in February 2025 as a vice president on its Business Selection & Conflicts team. Earlier, she served as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell and spent seven months on secondment in Morgan Stanley’s Legal & Compliance Division.
Her path into law began while she was a student. From May to August 2019, Erin interned with Major League Baseball, and she later became a summer associate at Davis Polk. Before entering the legal profession, she also worked at Bloomingdale’s and completed internships with Saks Fifth Avenue.
Erin graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law in 2021 and earned membership in the Order of the Coif. Her accomplishments there included work with the Fordham Law Review and Fordham Moot Court Board, as well as receiving a Legal Writing Award.
She previously completed a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016.
A New Marriage, Home and Baby
Erin’s life was evolving beyond her professional success as she and Frank created a family together. After meeting at Fordham Law, they married in August 2024. Images from their Long Beach Island, New Jersey, wedding captured the newlyweds smiling and holding hands following the ceremony.
Their daughter arrived five months before Erin’s death. Erin remained home with the baby throughout her five-month maternity leave and had only just gone back to work.
In a social media post, Erin expressed her gratitude for the months she had shared with her daughter. She also wrote that the child had recently been baptized and mentioned family trips to Long Beach Island, Maine and Rhode Island.
Another milestone had come shortly before the tragedy: Erin and Frank celebrated their second wedding anniversary on Aug. 10, three weeks before she was killed.
The couple had also bought their first house in Chester, New Jersey, in September 2025.
Frank had established an accomplished legal career as well. After clerking for federal judges, he joined Kasowitz, where his professional biography says he focuses on complex commercial litigation. In a brief span, the couple had welcomed a child, purchased a home and begun married life, with Erin’s first day back at work signaling yet another transition.
Connections to Times Square and Fordham
Times Square also held a much earlier place in Erin’s story. Nearly 14 years before her death, she shared a Facebook photo of herself at the location known as The Crossroads of the World while preparing to start college at the University of Pennsylvania. She was then known by her maiden name, Erin Guiltinan.
During her years at Penn, the political science student enthusiastically performed with a campus a cappella group, as reflected in posts and videos. She graduated in 2016 and later enrolled at Fordham Law with Frank. Both finished in 2021, and Fordham subsequently honored Erin as a beloved part of its law-school family.
A Fordham spokesperson said, "We are heartbroken to learn of the tragic and senseless loss of our alumna, Erin (Guiltinan) Piacenti. 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."
Colleagues Pay Tribute
Erin also made a strong impression within Bank of America. During her 18 months on the Business Selection & Conflicts team, numerous coworkers communicated with her daily, according to an internal company email.
Global Corporate & Investment Banking president Matthew Koder addressed the tragedy in that message. "Her loss is being felt deeply by many," he wrote, describing what happened as an "unacceptable and horrible incident" and a devastating loss for Erin’s relatives, loved ones and everyone who knew her.
Bank of America spokesperson John Yiannacopoulos shared a separate 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."
The remembrances came while investigators continued piecing together how Erin’s ordinary commute after her return to the office became fatal within moments.
The episode had begun near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, then developed into a tense police confrontation that ended with officers firing their weapons.
The Police Confrontation and Investigation
Following the stabbing of Erin, Pamela kept walking north along Seventh Avenue with two knives. Officers encountered her between 42nd and 43rd streets and repeatedly directed her to drop the weapons. Jessica said the standoff continued for approximately four minutes.
According to Jessica, Pamela responded, "I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you." Tasers were used but did not appear to stop her. When Pamela moved toward the officers, two of them fired.
"This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world," Jessica said. Pamela was transported to Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead there.
Police records showed mental health-related encounters between Pamela and the NYPD in 2018 and 2019. Authorities described her as emotionally disturbed and said she had no criminal record.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed the officers’ actions, saying, "I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse." As with other officer-involved shootings in New York, the use of deadly force will be investigated.
The failure of the Tasers to incapacitate Pamela became another focus after the confrontation.
Retired NYPD detective and Taser specialist Artur Sadowski explained that several circumstances could have limited their effect. For a Taser to interrupt muscle control, both probes generally must connect properly and form an electrical circuit.
One probe reportedly landed on the purse across Pamela’s body, while another seemed to strike her abdomen. Artur said, "She may have felt pain or muscle cramping in her abdomen but not enough to stop her from advancing."
As investigators reviewed the encounter, Pamela’s relatives questioned elements of the police response and said they had never expected her to act violently.
Pamela Cisneros’ Family Responds
Pamela’s half-brother, Patrick Peralta, said the family knew she struggled with mental health issues but had observed nothing suggesting she might attack someone.
"Yeah, she had mental problems. There were no signs this would have happened," Patrick said. "This was all of a sudden because she’s never been violent." Their mother, Maria, questioned why officers did not physically restrain her, asking, "There were so many police. Why didn’t they grab her by the arm?"
Her father, Mario, knew Pamela was receiving a monthly injection as treatment for a mental illness, though he said he did not understand what she was going through internally.
"I knew my daughter very well, but I didn’t know what was going on with her. What I do know is she was getting injections," Mario said. He had seen Pamela the previous week and recalled that she seemed fine.
Trying to make sense of the sudden change, Mario said, "We don’t understand because the situation reversed."
Patrick offered further details about his half-sister’s history and her conduct leading up to the attack.
Before Monday, Patrick said he had never known Pamela to hurt anybody except herself. "I don’t know what was in her head," he said. "I can’t tell you what she was thinking or if she just completely went blank. I don’t know where that rage came from."
The siblings were raised by their mother in Jackson Heights. Patrick recalled Pamela as a "happy-go-lucky kid" who would trail behind him when she was around 5 years old.
According to Patrick, her mental health difficulties emerged roughly 20 years ago, following the birth of her second daughter among her three children. "She went off track after that," he said.
Pamela’s middle daughter, who is autistic and nonverbal, resides at a Brooklyn group home that Pamela frequently visited, Patrick said. Her two other daughters live in Florida with Pamela’s former husband, their father.
Living by herself in Woodside, Pamela had recently reentered the workforce. Patrick said that after a period without employment, she began working as a lawyer’s administrative assistant about three months before the stabbings.
Her relatives typically saw her often, and Pamela generally joined their parents for dinner nearly every evening. That familiar schedule shifted not long before the incident.
Patrick last saw Pamela on August 8, when the family celebrated their father’s birthday. Their mother spoke with her Saturday, and Pamela reportedly said everything was fine. Her earlier online activity, however, included one unsettling post.
Months before the attack, Pamela had published a lengthy Facebook message containing ominous language.
In the November 30, 2025, post, she listed what she considered evidence of "the end times." One example was "the disminished [sic] love of people to the point of stabbing others for no reason."
Elsewhere in the message, Pamela stated that "the battlefield is in your mind" and discussed voices instructing people "to either kill someone or themselves." She linked such thoughts to Satan and encouraged readers to resist them by turning to God.
Patrick discovered what had occurred after watching cellphone video in a news report. "I was shocked," he said. "I’m still numb. I saw it on the news last night. Something told me that she looks like my sister."
He reached out to Midtown South and supplied his contact details, then received a return call from police at about 7:30 p.m. Patrick said he had to tell Pamela’s two daughters in Florida by phone the next night. He also addressed those harmed by the violence.
"My entire family feels so sorry for the two people, the one that passed away and the one who was hurt," Patrick said. "We are so sorry. We never thought this would happen."
For those closest to Erin—including her relatives, friends and coworkers—the circumstances of that Monday are made even more devastating by the family, home and career she had only recently begun building.