Investigators believe she had been drinking and simply lost her balance and fell from the 25th-floor of the Herald Square Towers on West 34th Street..
She was the daughter of U.S. ambassador Eric John, a career diplomat who was named ambassador to Thailand in 2007.
Detectives say Nicole had been partying with friends at Tenjune, a nightclub in the Meatpacking district, before attending an after-hours party in midtown where she later died.
The circumstances surrouding the fall are under investigation. Witnesses told police that she climbed out of the window to take pictures when she tripped. She landed on a third-floor ledge and was killed instantly. Police found a small camera next to her body.
At least twenty witnesses were questioned and police later charged 25-year-old Ilan Nassimi, the tenant, with serving alcohol to a minor.
Although she was only 17, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly confirmed that a fake id from Brazil was found on her.
It was a lifestyle that Nicole seemed to cultivate, detailed in photos on her webpage and in a response to a question about fake ids.
"As long as the ID is pretty legit looking, it should be okay," she wrote. "It's also easier if you're a girl, lol. I have a Brazilian ID that was made here in NYC and it's really good. It's never been rejected."
Nicole had just arrived in the city to study at the parsons school of design.
In his own blog, her ambassador father wrote, "She is very enthused about studying in the thriving multicultural arts scene in New York."
