The Bank of America executive who was fatally stabbed by a knife-wielding woman in Times Square was a new mother who had just returned from maternity leave.

Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey, was heading home from work on Monday when she stopped briefly in front of a vendor selling sunglasses and baseball hats on the street, according to The New York Times.

It was during that brief stop that she was fatally slashed in the stomach by Pamela Cisneros Lopez, 49, who also left a 68-year-old man seriously injured in the moments before she was gunned down by police.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Piacenti worked as Bank of America's vice president of business selection and conflicts. 

But she had just started her first week back on the job after returning from maternity leave when she was killed, the Times reports.

She had just given birth five months ago, according to a woman who identified herself to the Times as Piacenti's grandmother-in-law and described the young executive as a 'beautiful, beautiful girl.'

Piacenti posted a photo of herself on social media holding her newborn daughter and standing next to her husband, Frank, just four days before her death.

She had also written about how grateful she was to have spent the past five months on maternity leave, and shared that her daughter was baptized as she and Frank celebrated their second wedding anniversary.

The two had graduated from Fordham Law School in 2021, and were married in August 2024.

The Chester community is now grappling with the young mother's sudden loss.

'This definitely shakes us up,' said resident Megan O'Hara. 

'It's gotten scarier to go into the city because of things happening like this,' she continued, noting that many of the borough's residents commute to New York City for work.

'This feels close to home,' O'Hara said. 'It's like a family member passed away.' 

Terrifying footage from the scene showed officers firing a Taser at Lopez, from Queens, as she waved two kitchen knives at them.

Police then shot the woman, and she immediately fell to the ground where she was handcuffed and given first aid.