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Bank of America executive killed in Times Square stabbing remembered at New Jersey funeral
ReBank of America executive killed in Times Square stabbing remembered at New Jersey funeral
Hundreds gathered in Mendham Borough, New Jersey, to mourn Erin Guiltinan Piacenti, a 32-year-old Bank of America vice president and new mother fatally stabbed in an unprovoked Times Square attack. The suspect, who had a documented history of mental illness, was shot and killed by police after a standoff.
Hundreds of mourners gathered in New Jersey this week to say goodbye to Erin Guiltinan Piacenti, the 32-year-old Bank of America executive whose random stabbing in New York City's Times Square cut short a life marked by academic achievement, a new marriage, and a six-month-old daughter. A funeral Mass was held Wednesday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mendham Borough, following a wake Tuesday evening that drew a steady stream of visitors between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Local police coordinated traffic as the church parking lot remained full for much of the evening.
Piacenti, a resident of Chester, New Jersey, was attacked just before 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 on Seventh Avenue, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The injury to her abdomen proved fatal. The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Queens resident Pamela Cisneros, had stabbed a 68-year-old man waiting at a crosswalk with his wife just 20 seconds earlier. Tisch described both attacks as "random and unprovoked." The older victim survived and was hospitalized in stable condition, according to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The day of the attack was Piacenti's first day back from maternity leave after the birth of her first child, Madison, in March. She and her husband, Frank Piacenti, had returned the previous day from a vacation celebrating their second anniversary, according to her family. The couple married in 2024. A GoFundMe campaign organized for Madison had raised nearly $1 million as of Tuesday.
Piacenti was the oldest of five siblings and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Fordham University School of Law, according to her family's death announcement. At UPenn, she served as music director of the Dischord A Cappella group, where she met her future husband. After law school, she worked at the Manhattan-based international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell before becoming a vice president at Bank of America.
The attack unfolded quickly. After stabbing Piacenti and the 68-year-old man, Cisneros engaged in a standoff with police that was partially captured on video. The footage shows her holding two kitchen knives while officers repeatedly told her to drop the weapons. "I'm not dropping anything," she told them, according to Tisch. "I would rather kill both of you. I will kill you." Officers attempted to subdue her with stun guns, which failed, and opened fire as she approached them waving the knives. Cisneros was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.
Tisch said Cisneros had a documented history of mental health issues that led to interactions with the NYPD in 2018 and 2019 but no prior arrests. The incident closed Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 47th streets. Mayor Mamdani thanked the NYPD officers who intervened, saying they "prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse," and noted that a routine investigation into their conduct would be conducted and bodycam footage released. The family has asked for donations to the GoFundMe campaign in lieu of flowers.
