CHRISTMAS TERROR AT MACY’S: Tourist Changing Infant Slashed in ‘Unprovoked’ Bloodbath as Psych Patient Allegedly Heeded ‘Voices’ to Kill

In a horrific act of violence that has shattered the festive ambiance of New York City’s most iconic holiday destination, a visiting California mother was brutally stabbed multiple times in the back Thursday while changing her infant’s diaper in a seventh-floor bathroom at Macy’s Herald Square. The victim, a 39-year-old Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department employee on a holiday trip with her family, was targeted in what the NYPD describes as a completely unprovoked attack during the peak Christmas shopping rush. As she tended to her baby in a stall, a 43-year-old homeless woman, later identified as Kerri Aherne, allegedly plunged a knife into her back twice and slashed her arm in a sudden, silent assault that left the storied department store’s floors smeared with blood just steps from holiday displays.

In a chilling twist to the midday nightmare, prosecutors revealed that the alleged attacker, Kerri Aherne of Massachusetts, had been discharged from the Manhattan Psychiatric Center only hours before the stabbing after a yearlong stay. According to a criminal complaint, Aherne told authorities she purchased the knife at Macy’s and then prowled the crowded store, seeking a victim because “voices in her head told her she had to kill someone or she would be killed.” The injured mother and her husband—both law enforcement officers—somehow managed to disarm Aherne and subdue her until police arrived, potentially preventing further carnage amidst throngs of unsuspecting shoppers. Aherne now faces attempted murder and assault charges, held without bail, as the city grapples with a shocking breach of security at a symbol of American holiday tradition.