The victims of the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans 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 have emerged as family members and friends speak out.
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 Martin “Tiger” Bech, a Lafayette, Louisiana, native and former football player in his late 20s.
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. Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, and Kareem Badawi, 18, were identified as victims by their former high schools and by their families.
Also killed was Matthew Tenedorio, 25, an audiovisual technician who had gone out with friends, according to his family, and Billy DiMaio, 25, a New York-based account executive who had travelled to New Orleans to celebrate the new year with friends.
As their deaths were confirmed, families and loved ones from across the US honored those killed.
Nikyra Dedeaux’s mother, Melissa Dedeaux, told Nola.com her daughter was “the sweetest person”.
“She would give you anything, anything”, Melissa said. She added that Nikyra was smart and outgoing.
Nikyra graduated from Harrison Central high school in Gulfport last year and was due to start a nursing program at Blue Cliff college later this month.
The family of Reggie Hunter said he had decided to head to Bourbon Street “on a whim” to celebrate the new year with a cousin after having finished work on New Year’s Eve. .
“He had just texted Happy New Year in our family group text,” Hunter’s cousin Shirell Robinson Jackson wrote in a social media post, adding that his death was a “punch in the gut”.
Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St Thomas More Catholic high school, said another victim, Tiger Bech, played football at the school before going on to play for Princeton University.
Bech graduated from Princeton in 2021 and worked as a trader at a New York brokerage firm, according to Broussard.
In a statement, the Princeton Tigers coach Bob Surace said of Bech: “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.”
Bech’s brother, Jack, a receiver for Texas Christian University’s football team who previously played for Louisiana State University, addressed his brother’s death on social media.
“Love you always brother!” he wrote. “You inspired me every day – 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”.
Gauthreaux’s sister, Brooke, said on social media: “I woke up yesterday and a piece of me was gone. My sweet, selfless baby brother. You deserved so much better than this.”
She added: “You are so loved by everyone you’ve touched in this world. I’m so proud to be your big sister. I’d do anything to go back and be in the bleachers supporting you on the baseball diamond.
“Nothing feels real any more. Part of me is just expecting for you to walk through the door with that slick little grin and give me a hug. I miss you so so much already.”
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.”
On Facebook, Badawi’s father, Belal, expressed “great sadness and grief” over his son’s death. He said: “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.
The family of Matthew Tenedorio described him as a 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, about 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.
“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 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.
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 an audiovisual technician for the Caesars Superdome, which on Thursday hosted the Sugar Bowl game between Georgia and Notre Dame universities’ football teams after the attack forced its postponement Wednesday.
He graduated from a high school in Mississippi, which is where he resided, about an hour from New Orleans, she said.
Also among those killed was Drew Dauphin, a 2023 graduate of Auburn University, in Alabama, the school’s president, Christopher Roberts, announced 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.”
Billy DiMaio, 25, was also killed in the attack. DiMaio attended Holmdel high school in New Jersey and later graduated from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. He was known as a standout lacrosse player. He had traveled to New Orleans to celebrate the new year and spend time with friends who were attending the Sugar Bowl, his parents said.
“He was a good, humble kid,” DiMaio’s father, Bill DiMaio, told Nola. “He loved life.”
“He was a pure, gentle-hearted soul. He will be truly missed,” his mother, Tracie, said.
DiMaio earned a master’s degree in business and began working at Audacy, an internet radio platform, in 2023.
Audacy said: “Beyond his professional achievements, Billy will be fondly remembered for his unwavering work ethic, positive attitude, and kindness. He was a true asset to the Audacy team, and his contributions and presence will be deeply missed.”
