Overview

• Peter Zisopoulos was convicted of second-degree murder and criminal weapon possession for fatally stabbing FDNY EMS Lt. Alison Russo-Elling in Queens in 2022.
• Jurors deliberated for less than an hour after a week-long trial featuring eyewitness accounts, surveillance footage, and DNA evidence linking Zisopoulos to the crime.
• The unprovoked attack occurred in broad daylight near Russo-Elling’s Astoria station, where she was stabbed 20 times while on duty in uniform.
• Russo-Elling, a 61-year-old 9/11 first responder and 24-year FDNY EMS veteran, was posthumously promoted to captain and widely mourned by New York’s emergency-response community.
• Zisopoulos, who has a documented history of schizophrenia, faces 25 years to life in prison at his sentencing on June 30.