New Orleans: Two 18-year-olds, a young mother and a football star, among the victims of the terrorist attack

Wednesday 01 January 2025. A van falls on a crowd celebrating the coming of the new year. The tragic news in a few minutes goes around the world. Actor of the terrorist attack made in a special tourist French neighborhood, New Orleans, the 42-year-old Samsud din Jabbar, an American former military man, who was allegedly “inspired” by the jihadist organization Islamic State. CORVERSE In the carnage 15 people are killed and at least 30 injured. Among the victims two high school graduates, a former football star, a young mother and a father of two children. Officials have not yet released the names of the 15 people killed in the attack. However, the families and friends of the victims have begun to share the stories of their own people in social media. New Orleans coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement late Wednesday that they would release the names of the dead once the morgues were completed and speak to the closest relatives. CORVERSE The 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux Zion Parsons from Gulfport, Mississippi, was celebrating New Year’s on Bourbon Street, when a vehicle appeared and fell upon his friend, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who dreamed of becoming a nurse. “A truck hit the corner and threw people into the air like in a movie scene” he told the Associated Press. Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux traveled to New Orleans from Golfport along with her cousin and a friend Tuesday to celebrate New Year’s. Her mother confirmed on Wednesday that her daughter was among the victims. “I just want to see my baby,” wrote 40-year-old Melissa Dedeaux. “He was the sweetest man. He would give you everything, everything.” 18-year-old Kareem Badawi Kareem Badawi, who recently graduated from Baton Rouge Episcopal School, died of neck injuries, confirmed the private school on Wednesday and his father, according to local media. A second graduate, Parker Vidrine, is hospitalized with critical injuries, added the school. “It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my son,” his father, Belal Badawi, wrote on Facebook. School officials said the news has “stricken” the community. “ Earlier today, we learned of a terrible attack on New Orleans that tragically affected our school community. Due to the sensitive nature and out of respect for families, there is only so much we should share right now,” officials said in a statement to families. “With deep sadness we share that alumni Parker Vidrine ’24 was seriously injured and hospitalized in hospital and graduate Kareem Badawi ’24 died tragically as a result of the attack”. 27-year-old Tiger Bech Tiger Bech, a 28-year-old resident of Lafayette, Louisiana, who previously played as a wide retriever at Princeton University, celebrated the holidays in New Orleans when he was hit by the suspect’s truck for terrorism. Bech was a football player at his high school, St. Thomas More Catholic School in Lafayette. He earned all state distinctions while at the STM and was a member of the first All-Acadiana Regional and All-District team as a senior before winning a scholarship to play football in the Ivy League school. “The community of St. Thomas More Catholic High School mourns the loss of one of our own man, Tiger Bech, who died early this morning as a result of the attack on New Orleans,” the school said in an announcement, as NBC broadcast. “I always love you brother”, wrote Jack Bech in H. “You inspired me every day and now you will be with me at every moment. This is for us.” Love you always brother! 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 — Jack Bech (@Jackbech7) Bech graduated from Princeton in 2021 with a degree in finance and worked as a dealer in a New York stock company, NOLA.com reported. Bech was taken to the New Orleans hospital with internal bleeding from the attack before dying Wednesday morning, Kim Brussard, the athletic director of St Thomas More Catholic School, told NOLA.com. 37-year-old Reggie Hunter A 37-year-old father of two children from Baton Rouge was among the 15 people killed at dawn on Wednesday. Reggie Hunter had just left work and went to celebrate New Year’s with a cousin when the attack occurred, said his first cousin Sherel Jackson at Nola.com. Hunter was killed and his cousin was injured, Jackson said. 20-year-old Nicole Perez Nicole Perez was a single mother of a four-year-old son who worked hard to improve her family’s life when she was killed against assault, according to her employer. 20-year-old Perez, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy’s Deli in Metarie, Louisiana and “she was very excited about it,” said deli-owner Kimberly Usher in an AP phone interview. Usher confirmed Perez’s death through her sister, who also works for her. “She was a very good mom,” said Usher, who opened a GoFundMe account to cover Perez’s burial expenses and help with her son’s expenses that “will need to go to a new state of living”.