This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/01/new-orleans-vehicle-attack-victims
The article has changed 18 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 10 | Version 11 |
|---|---|
| ‘She was the sweetest person’: first details of New Orleans victims emerge | ‘She was the sweetest person’: first details of New Orleans victims emerge |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Victims identified include aspiring nurse, father of two and former football player | Victims identified include aspiring nurse, father of two and former football player |
| The victims who died in the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans include an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a 37-year-old father of two and a 27-year-old former football player and they make up a tragic but vivid tapestry of the characteristically cosmopolitan crowd that descends on the city’s famous French Quarter to celebrate any occasion. | The victims who died in the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans include an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a 37-year-old father of two and a 27-year-old former football player and they make up a tragic but vivid tapestry of the characteristically cosmopolitan crowd that descends on the city’s famous French Quarter to celebrate any occasion. |
| Authorities have not yet released the names of those killed in the suspected terrorist attack, which killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more, but details were emerging as family members and friends speak out. A fast-moving vehicle ploughed into the crowds of revellers celebrating the first hours of 2025 early on Wednesday morning in Bourbon Street. | Authorities have not yet released the names of those killed in the suspected terrorist attack, which killed at least 14 people and injured dozens more, but details were emerging as family members and friends speak out. A fast-moving vehicle ploughed into the crowds of revellers celebrating the first hours of 2025 early on Wednesday morning in Bourbon Street. |
| Local media in New Orleans first identified Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, who had traveled to the city from nearby Gulfport, Mississippi, with a cousin and a friend; Reggie Hunter, a 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Tiger Bech, a 27-year-old Lafayette, Louisiana, native and former football player. A fourth victim was named as Nicole Perez, a 28-year-old mother and delicatessen manager from Metairie, Louisiana, who was celebrating the new year with friends. Then Hubert Gauthreaux and Kareem Badawi were identified as victims by their former high schools. | Local media in New Orleans first identified Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, who had traveled to the city from nearby Gulfport, Mississippi, with a cousin and a friend; Reggie Hunter, a 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Tiger Bech, a 27-year-old Lafayette, Louisiana, native and former football player. A fourth victim was named as Nicole Perez, a 28-year-old mother and delicatessen manager from Metairie, Louisiana, who was celebrating the new year with friends. Then Hubert Gauthreaux and Kareem Badawi were identified as victims by their former high schools. |
| Melissa Dedeaux, Nikyra’s mother, told Nola.com: “She was the sweetest person. She would give you anything, anything.” She said her daughter had apparently been hit by the speeding truck after running at the sound of gunfire. | Melissa Dedeaux, Nikyra’s mother, told Nola.com: “She was the sweetest person. She would give you anything, anything.” She said her daughter had apparently been hit by the speeding truck after running at the sound of gunfire. |
| Nikyra graduated from Harrison Central high school in Gulfport in 2024 and was due to start a nursing program at Blue Cliff college later this month and her mother added that she was very smart and outgoing. | Nikyra graduated from Harrison Central high school in Gulfport in 2024 and was due to start a nursing program at Blue Cliff college later this month and her mother added that she was very smart and outgoing. |
| After finishing work on New Year’s Eve, Hunter decided to head to Bourbon Street “on a whim” to celebrate the new year with a cousin, Shirell Jackson, his family told Nola.com. | After finishing work on New Year’s Eve, Hunter decided to head to Bourbon Street “on a whim” to celebrate the new year with a cousin, Shirell Jackson, his family told Nola.com. |
| Bech was hit by the suspect’s truck, Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St Thomas More Catholic high school, where he played football before going on to play for Princeton University, told the outlet. | Bech was hit by the suspect’s truck, Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St Thomas More Catholic high school, where he played football before going on to play for Princeton University, told the outlet. |
| He graduated from Princeton in 2021 and worked as a trader at a New York brokerage firm, according to Broussard. | He graduated from Princeton in 2021 and worked as a trader at a New York brokerage firm, according to Broussard. |
| In a statement, Princeton Tigers coach Bob Surace said that “there was no more appropriate nickname of a Princeton player I coached”. | In a statement, Princeton Tigers coach Bob Surace said that “there was no more appropriate nickname of a Princeton player I coached”. |
| “He was a ‘Tiger’ in every way a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend” he said. “Our last conversation was about how proud I was of the growth he showed during his time at Princeton and the success he was having after graduation. | “He was a ‘Tiger’ in every way a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend” he said. “Our last conversation was about how proud I was of the growth he showed during his time at Princeton and the success he was having after graduation. |
| “My love goes to the entire Bech family” he added. | “My love goes to the entire Bech family” he added. |
| Bech’s brother, Jack, a former receiver for Texas Christian University, addressed his brother’s death on social media. | Bech’s brother, Jack, a former receiver for Texas Christian University, addressed his brother’s death on social media. |
| “Love you always brother!” he wrote. “You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.” | “Love you always brother!” he wrote. “You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.” |
| The suburban New Orleans Catholic Archbishop Shaw high school said in a statement that its class of 2021 alumnus, Hubert Gauthreaux “was tragically killed in the senseless act of violence that occurred early [Wednesday] morning in the French Quarter”. | The suburban New Orleans Catholic Archbishop Shaw high school said in a statement that its class of 2021 alumnus, Hubert Gauthreaux “was tragically killed in the senseless act of violence that occurred early [Wednesday] morning in the French Quarter”. |
| “He was 21 years old,” Shaw’s statement said of Gauthreaux. The statement also asked the community “to pray for the repose of Hubert’s soul”. | “He was 21 years old,” Shaw’s statement said of Gauthreaux. The statement also asked the community “to pray for the repose of Hubert’s soul”. |
| Meanwhile, Episcopal high school in Louisiana’s capital city, Baton Rouge, said its class of 2024 alum, Kareem Badawi, was killed in Wednesday’s attack. Badawi was in the middle of his freshman year at the University of Alabama – where he had pledged to join the Sigma Chi fraternity – when he was killed on Sunday, AL.com reported. | Meanwhile, Episcopal high school in Louisiana’s capital city, Baton Rouge, said its class of 2024 alum, Kareem Badawi, was killed in Wednesday’s attack. Badawi was in the middle of his freshman year at the University of Alabama – where he had pledged to join the Sigma Chi fraternity – when he was killed on Sunday, AL.com reported. |
| The university’s president, Stuart R Bell, said: “I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss.” | The university’s president, Stuart R Bell, said: “I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss.” |
| On Facebook, Badawi’s father, Belal, expressed “great sadness and grief” over his son’s death, adding: “We ask Allah almighty to shower his mercy on him and give us patience and strength to overcome.” | On Facebook, Badawi’s father, Belal, expressed “great sadness and grief” over his son’s death, adding: “We ask Allah almighty to shower his mercy on him and give us patience and strength to overcome.” |
| On Thursday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, mentioned the death of Kareem as a Muslim American and also said it “joined the New Orleans Muslim community in mourning the victims of the attack on New Year’s Day and reiterated its longstanding condemnation of Daesh and other extremists that encourage such violence”, using the Arabic term for Islamic State, to which the suspect in the attack pledged allegiance. | On Thursday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, mentioned the death of Kareem as a Muslim American and also said it “joined the New Orleans Muslim community in mourning the victims of the attack on New Year’s Day and reiterated its longstanding condemnation of Daesh and other extremists that encourage such violence”, using the Arabic term for Islamic State, to which the suspect in the attack pledged allegiance. |
| Also killed was a man named Matthew Tenedorio, according to his family, who described him as fun-loving and a kind soul who always had a smile. | Also killed was a man named Matthew Tenedorio, according to his family, who described him as fun-loving and a kind soul who always had a smile. |
| Tenedorio’s cousin, Christina Colgan Bounds, told the Guardian that on New Year’s Eve, he had had dinner with his family at his brother’s house in Slidell, Louisiana, around a 30-minute drive from New Orleans and, despite his parents’ concerns, he later joined some friends in New Orleans, Bounds said. | Tenedorio’s cousin, Christina Colgan Bounds, told the Guardian that on New Year’s Eve, he had had dinner with his family at his brother’s house in Slidell, Louisiana, around a 30-minute drive from New Orleans and, despite his parents’ concerns, he later joined some friends in New Orleans, Bounds said. |
| Later that night, Bounds said that as Tenedorio and his friends walked down Bourbon Street, they saw a body fall from above them. | Later that night, Bounds said that as Tenedorio and his friends walked down Bourbon Street, they saw a body fall from above them. |
| “They didn’t know where it came from,” she said, adding that they then “went in the direction of the noise and the screams.” | “They didn’t know where it came from,” she said, adding that they then “went in the direction of the noise and the screams.” |
| In the chaos, Bounds said that police pushed his friends into a bar, separating them. | In the chaos, Bounds said that police pushed his friends into a bar, separating them. |
| “They just assumed he got pushed too because it all happened so so fast,” Bounds said. But, they later found out from the coroner that he was shot and killed in the attack. | “They just assumed he got pushed too because it all happened so so fast,” Bounds said. But, they later found out from the coroner that he was shot and killed in the attack. |
| Tenedorio was born in Long Island, New York, and moved to Louisiana with his family in 2003 to be near his grandparents, Bounds said. He was a audiovisual technician for the Caesars Superdome. | Tenedorio was born in Long Island, New York, and moved to Louisiana with his family in 2003 to be near his grandparents, Bounds said. He was a audiovisual technician for the Caesars Superdome. |
| He graduated from a high school in Mississippi, which is where he resided, she said, about an hour from New Orleans. | He graduated from a high school in Mississippi, which is where he resided, she said, about an hour from New Orleans. |
| Also among those killed is Drew Dauphin, a 2023 graduate of Auburn University, in Alabama, the school’s president, Christopher Roberts, announced on Thursday on Facebook. | |
| Roberts wrote: “Words cannot convey the sorrow the Auburn Family feels for Drew’s family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time. Our thoughts are with the Dauphin family and the families of all the victims of this senseless tragedy.” | |
| Dozens of well-wishers posting on the site included Deavin Willett, who wrote: “He was so loved and this is such a tragic loss to all who had the pleasure of knowing him!” |