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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
(about 5 hours later)
Victims identified include aspiring nurse, father of two and former football playerVictims identified include aspiring nurse, father of two and former football player
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. 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 claimed at least 15 people, but details began to emerge in local media on Wednesday as family members spoke out. 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.
A fast-moving vehicle ploughed into the crowds of revellers 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. Later on Wednesday, Hubert Gauthreaux and Kareem Badawi were identified as victims by their former high schools. 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 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. 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.
The suburban New Orleans Catholic high school Archbishop Shaw said its class of 2021 alum Hubert Gauthreaux “was tragically killed in the senseless act of violence that occurred early [Wednesday] morning in the French Quarter”. 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.
“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.
“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”.
“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.”
Another of its former students was injured, the school said in a statement, the local NBC affiliate WDSU reported. 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.
A man named Matthew Tenedorio was also among the dead in the attack, according to a GoFundMe campaign established by his family in his memory. The fundraiser’s page descried him as a graduate of Pearl River Central High from Carriere, Mississippi, which is about 60 miles north of New Orleans. 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 was described as being an audiovisual technician for the Caesars Superdome, which was set to host the 2025 edition of the Sugar Bowl football game between the universities of Notre Dame and Georgia on Wednesday night – a contest that was postponed until Thursday because of the attack. 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.
“He played a crucial role in creating memorable experiences for countless fans and event-goers,” the GoFundMe page in his honor said. Later that night, Bounds said that as Tenedorio and his friends walked down Bourbon Street, they saw a body fall from above them.
The page said Tenedorio “made lasting memories and friendships” during his time at Pearl River Central. “Matthew was always one to lighten the mood, able to laugh off life’s challenges and spread positivity wherever he went.” “They didn’t know where it came from,” she said, adding that they then “went in the direction of the noise and the screams.”
Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed reporting In the chaos, Bounds said that police pushed his friends into a bar, separating them.
Ramon Antonio Vargas contributed reporting “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.
He graduated from a high school in Mississippi, which is where he resided, she said, about an hour from New Orleans.