Erin Piacenti: The Bank of America VP Fatally Stabbed in Times Square on Her First Day Back from Maternity Leave

Erin Piacenti, 32, returned to her Bank of America office in Manhattan on Monday after five months of maternity leave, greeted by pink daisies on her desk, welcome-back signs from teammates, and an eager audience for photos of her newborn daughter, Madison. Hours later, she was fatally stabbed in Times Square in what police called an unprovoked attack by Pamela Cisneros, 49, who also wounded another victim before being shot and killed by officers at the scene.

Piacenti had built a quietly impressive legal career in roughly a decade. She started as a buyer at Bloomingdale's, graduated magna cum laude from Fordham Law, spent more than three years at elite firm Davis Polk working on mergers and acquisitions, and joined Bank of America about 18 months ago as a vice president in the Americas Business Selection and Conflicts group — a roughly 20-person team that helps investment bankers navigate M&A disclosure documents and regulatory compliance.

Her boss, Hallie Ziesmer, said the job interview lasted about three minutes before she knew she wanted to hire her. Ziesmer had already described Piacenti to senior management as a 'superstar' before her death. Colleagues remembered her as unusually generous with junior team members — staying late to review their work line by line, offering career and personal advice over coffee, and going out of her way to share her enthusiasm for the specialized legal work she did.

Beyond the office, Piacenti was known for talking constantly about her husband Frank, her four younger siblings, books, and Disney. At a team cooking class, she made the best dish. Around the holidays, she and Frank hosted a family Christmas cookie party at their new home in New Jersey and brought dozens of cookies into the office. Her team says they plan to bring cookies in every year going forward in her memory.

A GoFundMe established for her daughter Madison has raised more than $800,000, with many Bank of America employees among the contributors. The outpouring of grief has extended well beyond Wall Street, underscoring the particular cruelty of the timing — a young mother, back at work for a single afternoon, killed in a random act of violence.