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‘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 as Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18; Reggie Hunter, 37; Tiger Bech, 27; and Nicole Perez, 28 | Victims identified as Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18; Reggie Hunter, 37; Tiger Bech, 27; and Nicole Perez, 28 |
The victims of 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. | |
Authorities have not yet released the names of those killed in the suspected terrorist attack, which claimed at least 15 people, but details began to emerge in local media on Wednesday as family members spoke out. | |
A fast-moving vehicle ploughed into the crowds of revelers celebrating the first hours of 2025 early on Wednesday morning. The gunman driving the vehicle also exchanged fire with police, before officers shot him dead. | |
The attacker has been named as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old veteran from Texas. In addition to the 15 fatalities, dozens more people were injured, officials said. | |
Local media in New Orleans identified the first known victims, including a Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, who had traveled to New Orleans 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. | |
Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux 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. | Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux 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. |
Melissa Dedeaux, her 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. | |
“Cheyenne was a very smart and outgoing girl,” she added. “She’s never gotten into any trouble.” | |
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. |
According to the outlet, Bech was hit by the suspect’s truck, said Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St Thomas More Catholic high school, where he played football before going on to play for Princeton University. | According to the outlet, Bech was hit by the suspect’s truck, said Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St Thomas More Catholic high school, where he played football before going on to play for Princeton University. |
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. |