Times Square murder victim from NJ—NJ Top News
Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show.
🔗 New Jersey woman killed in Times Square knife attack
🚨A 32-year-old Chester woman was fatally stabbed in Times Square Monday
🚨Police say a woman attacked two people with knives near One Times Square.
🚨The suspect was shot by police after a Taser failed to stop her
NEW YORK CITY — A Chester, New Jersey, woman was fatally stabbed in Times Square Monday afternoon in what police described as a seemingly random attack.
The stabbing happened just before 4:30 p.m. next to a New York Police Department substation, just outside One Times Square, according to the NYPD.
A 49-year-old woman from Queens pulled out two knives from a shopping bag and stabbed a 68-year-old man who had just come out of the subway station, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. The man was waiting to cross the street with his wife when he was struck in the abdomen,
Seconds later, the attacker stabbed a 32-year-old woman, also in the abdomen, Tisch said. Both victims were taken to the hospital. The woman died, while the man is in stable condition, according to police.
The woman who was stabbed was identified by the New York Post as Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester. She had recently celebrated her second wedding anniversary.
Piacenti was a Vice President of Business Selection and Conflicts for Bank of America. She held degrees from Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania, according to her LinkedIn page.
Bank of America confirmed her identity in a statement to New Jersey 101.5 on Tuesday.
🔗 A new way to fight NJ's sky-high electric bills just arrived
☀️ New Jersey now allows qualifying plug-in solar panels under 1,200 watts without utility approval.
💰 Gov. Mikie Sherrill says the systems could cut typical electric bills by up to $50 a month.
🏠 Landlords, HOAs and towns can no longer ban or require permits for qualifying balcony solar.
New Jersey residents have a new option to save on their electric bills.
Portable solar panels that meet safety standards are now legal to buy online or at local home improvement stores, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced on Tuesday.
The law exempts these plug-in energy generators under 1,200 watts from utility interconnection and metering requirements. Depending on wattage, models can range in price between a few hundred dollars and $1,500.
"These units cost a fraction as much as rooftop solar, but they can still shave up to $50 off the typical monthly bill," Sherrill said. That's savings of $600 a year. She said there are more than 1 million of these panels in Germany alone.
🔗 New details released in Jackson crash that killed NJ infant
✅A 20-year-old allegedly hit the gas instead of the brake in a Jackson shopping center
✅A 9-month-old boy was killed and his mother and sister were also struck
✅A judge ordered both women held in Ocean County Jail until trial.
JACKSON — The promise of a treat from Dunkin' led a woman to allow her co-worker to drive the car that struck and killed an infant in the parking lot of a shopping center.
Maria Cobon-Guzman, 20, of Trenton, drove the Ford Fusion that ran over a mother, her young daughter and 9-month-old son Friday at the NPGS grocery store in Jackson, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Brad Billhimmer.
According to the affidavit in the case, Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, 22, of Toms River, was using the car, which is registered to her boyfriend, to teach her NPGS co-worker to drive.
Guzman, who had driven for the first time ever just a week before the crash, offered to pay for Flores' order at Dunkin' during their lunch break if she let her drive. There is a Dunkin' less than a mile from the grocery store.
Flores agreed and backed the car out of the space before switching seats with CobonGuzman. The family whose members were hit had parked next to the Ford and was walking toward the store.
Flores told Guzman to put the car in drive but to keep her foot on the brake. Instead, Guzman hit the gas and quickly accelerated, hitting the family and another vehicle.
🔗 NJ teacher gets 12 years after 25,000 texts with student
⚖️ Allison Havemann-Niedrach was sentenced to 12 years for sexually abusing an eighth-grade student.
📱 Prosecutors said she exchanged 25,000 texts with the teen while grooming him.
💔 A judge said the victim had seriously considered suicide because of her behavior.
FREEHOLD — A now-former teacher who exchanged 25,000 text messages with a student to groom him into a lengthy sexual relationship has been sentenced.
Allison Havemann-Niedrach, 45, can only see her children through scheduled prison visits for at least the next decade.
The woman from Jackson was sentenced to 12 years in state prison, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago. She must also register as a sex offender and give up her teaching certificate after pleading guilty to first-degree aggravated sexual assault earlier this year.
Superior Court Judge Jill O’Malley said the victim had seriously considered killing himself after Havemann-Niedrach's repeated "abhorrent behavior," the Asbury Park Press reported.
“You are his trauma. You ruined him,��� O’Malley said.
Havemann-Niedrach began working as a special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School in 2022, according to her LinkedIn. The profile's banner says, "I touch the future — I teach."
Within two years of getting the job, the married mother of two began grooming an eighth-grader. It started in September 2023. Prosecutors said she bought the student gifts, including a sex toy, and brought food to his workplace.
🔗 Woman tries to save child, both fall from Seaside Heights ride
🚨A woman and child fell from the Sky Ride over the Seaside Heights boardwalk
🚨The woman dropped her phone before trying to grab the child
🚨All three were taken to a Toms River hospital with minor injuries
A woman and child fell from the platform of the Sky Ride over the Seaside Heights boardwalk Monday night after the woman dropped her phone.
Seaside Heights Fire Chief Tim Farrell told New Jersey 101.5 that the woman was on the turnaround with two children, ages 6 and 8, when she fell off the platform onto the sand below around 8 p.m.
The woman tried to grab the child but slid out of her seat and dangled over the sand before falling, Farrell said. The child fell about five feet.
The ride was stopped while a 12-foot ladder was raised to get the child off the ride.
All three were sent to Community Medical Center in Toms River for treatment of minor injuries, according to Farrell.
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