A California woman endured a harrowing experience when she was attacked by a disturbed psychiatric patient in a renowned New York City department store while tending to her child’s diaper change.

The alleged assailant, Kerri Aherne, 43, reportedly targeted a 38-year-old tourist from the West Coast inside Macy’s Herald Square on Thursday at approximately 3:10 p.m. The incident occurred in the store’s restroom, where the victim was with her 10-month-old infant.

According to prosecutors, Aherne entered the seventh-floor restroom and launched a knife attack on the unsuspecting woman, causing the child to fall from the changing table to the ground.

Fortunately, the baby was unharmed, but the mother sustained multiple stab wounds to her back, shoulder, and arm, as detailed by The New York Post. She was quickly transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she was reported to be in stable condition.

Aherne had been discharged from the Manhattan Psychiatric Center earlier that day. Her release followed a year-long stay at the mental health facility before she perpetrated the attack at the bustling Midtown shopping destination.

Her erratic social media history included death threats to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and incoherent posts lashing out at US President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.

‘She had purchased a knife at Macy’s and looked for someone to kill because voices in her head told her that she had to kill someone or else she would be killed,’ Paul Barker, the Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, said in court Friday night.

Aherne was arrested and charged with attempted murder, endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of assault and the criminal possession of a weapon.

Kerri Aherne being arraigned at Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. She was arrested on charges of attempted murder, child endangerment, assault and weapon possession

Authorities said the 38–year–old victim was visiting New York City from California and was changing her 10–month–old daughter in a seventh–floor restroom when she was attacked

The attack only stopped when the victim, whose identity has not been disclosed, managed to subdue Aherne with the help of her baby’s father.

The victim is a civilian employee with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, where her partner serves as a deputy.

Officials said Aherne was believed to be homeless and had never been arrested in New York before.

However, Aherne had previously been arrested in native Massachusetts in 2018 for posts online where she threatened to kill Warren.

She also claimed she was planning on ‘getting a gun’ to shoot someone at a ‘local police station.’

The 43–year–old left Massachusetts in an Uber in 2024 while she was out of a hospital there on temporary leave.

She allegedly said that she could no longer stand hospitals and would rather be in prison.

According to a public social media profile, Aherne previously lived in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and had attended Salem State College

It was not immediately clear exactly why or when Aherne had been admitted into the Manhattan Psychiatric Center.

A public social media profile indicated she had previously lived in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, about 25 miles north of Boston – and had attended Salem State College.

Aherne had been declared an incapacitated person in 2019, per court records cited by the Post.

Her mother and sister were appointed as her guardians.

A court also directed Aherne to remain on Prolixin, an antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia, according to the records.

Aherne’s social media history showed an extensive record of concerning, menacing posts.

‘Going a little insane,’ she posted in June 2018, alongside a photo of Michael Jackson.

Prosecutors said the victim’s baby fell from the changing table to the floor when the crazed attack was carried out at Macy’s

One day earlier, she thanked a doctor for ‘all your help.’

Aherne wrote: ‘Your [sic] the only woman doctor who seemed to know what to do.’

Earlier that year, she posted: ‘I don’t think anybody can handle what I’m handling.’

Her account also regularly criticized Trump. Its most recent post said that the US was a ‘dumbass pathetic country.’

On Friday, Aherne was ordered to be held without bail – which she protested.

‘I don’t want to go to another hospital,’ she told the court, adding that her Manhattan psychiatric stay had not helped.

Her next court date is set for December 17. Aherne’s attorney plans to seek bail at a future hearing.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the New York City Police Department for comment.