Man convicted of murder in fatal stabbing of FDNY captain in Queens

A Queens man was convicted Monday of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing FDNY Captain Alison Russo-Elling in an unprovoked attack outside her Astoria station in 2022, officials said.

Peter Zisopoulos, 37, was also found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial in Queens Supreme Court, officials said. Jurors returned their verdict less than an hour after closing arguments concluded Monday morning, according to the Queens district attorney's office. He faces 25 years to life in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for June 30.

Russo-Elling, a 61-year-old EMT with 24 years of service, was on duty in uniform on the afternoon of Sept. 29, 2022, when she was attacked steps from EMS Station 49, where she was assigned, officials said. A 9/11 first responder and Long Island resident, she was months away from retirement, authorities said. The FDNY later posthumously promoted her to captain.

Prosecutors said Zisopoulos charged at Russo as she walked along 41st Street near 20th Avenue, shoved her to the ground and stabbed her repeatedly with a serrated kitchen knife. According to trial testimony, the knife wounds pierced her lungs, liver and heart.

A man on a scooter tried to help, but was chased off by Zisopoulos, who then walked past Russo’s body and entered his nearby apartment, authorities said. A witness who followed him ran to the station to alert her colleagues, officials said.

Russo was rushed to a nearby hospital but could not be saved, the district attorney said. Emergency responders later recovered the knife from Zisopoulos’s pants pocket, according to officials. DNA from both the defendant and the victim was found on the blade, authorities said.

Zisopoulos was arrested after a standoff with police and was held without bail throughout the pretrial process, which included multiple mental health evaluations. He testified in his own defense, denying involvement despite surveillance footage and eyewitness testimony presented at trial, officials said.

"Alison Russo was a long-time public servant who cared deeply for the people of New York," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. "Our city is still in mourning for a woman who saved countless lives as a member of the FDNY EMS and as a volunteer with her local ambulance company on Long Island.”

FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker also responded to the verdict, calling it “a just verdict for this brutal crime.”

“While the verdict will not bring Captain Russo back to us, I pray her family and those who loved her get some sense of closure from this,” he said.

Russo’s death drew widespread public mourning and tributes. Hundreds attended her funeral on Long Island, including Mayor Eric Adams and FDNY leadership.

Family members remembered her as both a tireless first responder and a compassionate figure who would have come to the aid of anyone.