Pamela Cisneros’ Father Breaks His Silence on Their Final Meeting—A Sudden Change Before the De@adly Times Square Attack Raises New Questions
The final days before the deadly Times Square stabbing involving Pamela Cisneros are drawing renewed scrutiny after her father opened up about their last meeting and the changes he had noticed in his daughter.
Cisneros, 49, of Queens, was fatally shot by New York City police on August 31 after authorities said she stabbed two strangers in a seemingly random and unprovoked attack in the heart of Manhattan. One of the victims, 32-year-old Bank of America vice president Erin Piacenti, died from her injuries. A 68-year-old man was also stabbed but survived.
In the aftermath, attention has increasingly turned to Cisneros’ history of mental health struggles and the circumstances surrounding her behavior in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Her father, Mario Cisneros, told ABC7 New York that he had seen his daughter approximately one week before the incident. At the time, he said, she appeared to be fine and did not seem violent. He said the family has struggled to understand how the woman they knew could suddenly become involved in such a horrific act.
The revelation is particularly striking because her father also said Cisneros had been receiving monthly medication injections for a mental health condition. Police have separately confirmed that she had a documented history of mental-health-related encounters and had been hospitalized multiple times during previous crises.
Authorities have pointed to incidents in 2018 and 2019. In one case, police responded after Cisneros reportedly behaved erratically at a Manhattan hotel. The following year, officers responded after she jumped onto subway tracks in what authorities described as an apparent suicide attempt.
Her family’s account suggests that the problems did not begin immediately before the Times Square attack. Her father said her mental health difficulties became apparent after the birth of one of her children and believed she may have experienced postpartum depression. However, the available information does not establish that any particular mental health condition caused the attack, and investigators have not publicly identified a definitive motive.
The attack itself unfolded during the afternoon on one of New York City’s busiest streets. Police said Cisneros approached a 68-year-old man and stabbed him in the abdomen before attacking Piacenti moments later. Officers then confronted Cisneros while she was armed with two knives.
According to authorities, officers repeatedly ordered her to drop the weapons. Attempts to stop her with Tasers were unsuccessful, and police ultimately opened fire after she continued advancing with the knives. Cisneros was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she later died.
For her father, however, the most difficult question may be what happened between their final meeting and the violence that shocked New York.
He remembered seeing his daughter only days before the attack and believing that she was doing relatively well. That apparent normalcy now stands in stark contrast to the chaotic events that followed.
Investigators continue working to establish what happened in those final days, including whether there were warning signs that were not recognized and what role, if any, her mental health treatment played.
For now, her father’s account adds another unsettling dimension to a case that has already left one family mourning a young mother and another family struggling to understand how a deeply troubled loved one became the center of a deadly attack.
