A 43-year-old Massachusetts woman has been indicted on attempted murder and other charges for allegedly attacking a California tourist — at random — last month in a bathroom at Macy’s flagship Herald Square.
Kerri Aherne is also charged with attempted assault and child endangerment in the December 2025 stabbing. Prosecutors say she walked into Macy’s that day and bought a knife. Later in the afternoon, she allegedly entered a seventh-floor bathroom where the tourist was changing her 10-month-old child’s diaper.
Prosecutors allege Aherne came at her from behind and began stabbing her, unprovoked.
The victim, who sources said is an employee of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, turned around and wrestled the suspect to the ground, sustaining cuts to her arm in addition to the other injuries, police said. She threw the knife across the room. The baby fell from the changing table to the floor in the scuffle.
The victim’s boyfriend and store security workers restrained the woman until police arrived.
The 38-year-old victim was treated at a hospital for two stab wounds to her back and lacerations to her arm and hand that required stitches. The baby was OK.
“The thousands of families that visit Manhattan during the holiday season deserve to be safe while shopping and celebrating with their loved ones,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “As alleged, Kerri Aherne carried out a horrific and unprovoked stabbing of a mother who was simply caring for her 10-month-old baby. This tourist was attacked inside one of the city’s largest and most frequented department stores, posing public safety implications for employees, visitors, and New Yorkers alike.”
Aherne was ordered remanded after her initial hearing last month.
According to the criminal complaint, Aherne was discharged from Manhattan Psychiatric Center the morning before the attack after spending more than a year as a hospitalized patient. The criminal complaint stated that Aherne claimed she heard voices telling her to kill someone, or she would be killed herself.
She told a judge at her initial court hearing that she didn’t want to go to a hospital because “they didn’t help me.”
Aherne was previously arrested in 2018 after allegedly posting a threat on Facebook to kill Sen. Elizabeth Warren and getting a gun to shoot someone at a local police station.
If convicted, she faces up to 25 years in prison.
In a statement at the time, Macy’s said they were “deeply saddened about the incident” and that “the safety of our customers and colleagues is our top priority.”