The family of a 32-year-old Bank of America vice president who was fatally stabbed in an apparently random attack in Times Square earlier this week is remembering her as a devoted new mother who had returned from maternity leave on the very day she was killed.

Erin Piacenti was killed on Aug. 31, the same day she came back to work after spending five months at home with her newborn daughter, Madison, according to a GoFundMe organized by her brother-in-law in consultation with her husband, Frank, and other family members.

"Becoming a mother was Erin's lifelong ambition, and Madison gave her the greatest possible joy," the fundraiser states.

Piacenti and her husband had recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary and returned from a family road trip, according to the fundraiser. "They were preparing to build a life together with their new daughter," the family wrote. "That life changed incomprehensibly in an instant."

Piacenti was stabbed near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan in what New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described as an apparently random and unprovoked attack. The attack occurred in one of the most heavily trafficked and heavily policed areas of the city, steps from the heart of the Broadway theater district. A 68-year-old man was also stabbed and taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to police.

Police identified the suspect as Pamela Cisneros, 49. Officers responding to the scene encountered Cisneros holding two large knives, according to the NYPD. Police said Cisneros advanced toward the officers before they shot her. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The NYPD's Force Investigation Division is reviewing the police shooting, a standard step for officer-involved shootings in the city.

Piacenti worked as a vice president on Bank of America's Business Selection and Conflicts team and had joined the bank about 18 months earlier, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters. Bank of America, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the largest banks in the United States, and its Manhattan workforce includes thousands of employees across corporate and investment banking operations.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague," Bank of America said in a statement to Reuters. "She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones."

"To the people who knew and loved her, Erin was a thoughtful daughter and sister, a loyal friend, a devoted partner and companion in every aspect of Frank's life, and, most recently, an incredibly loving mother to Madison," the family's GoFundMe states.

In a separate statement reported by media outlets, Piacenti's family said they were "devastated" by her death and asked for privacy.

The GoFundMe was established to support Piacenti's daughter as she grows up and to help preserve stories and memories of her mother, according to the family.

"Erin's life was defined not by the circumstances of her death, but instead by the way she lived," the fundraiser states.