People stand near the site where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, January 1, 2025.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Many of them had arrived on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the promise of the year to come: a woman on the cusp of starting her studies to become a nurse, a father of two spending time with his cousin, a former Princeton University football player.
But around 3:15 am, a Texas man drove his truck through the crowd of revelers, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens more, before opening fire. The injured include two police officers who confronted the driver, two Israeli citizens and a University of Georgia student.
This is what we have learned about some of those who died in the attack.
Hubert Gauthreaux
Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, told his family he was heading to the Riverwalk to watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. His sister, Brooke Gauthreaux, 26, teased him about not wanting to hang out at home with her and their mother, but before he left she told him she loved him, according to Brooke Gauthreaux.
After midnight, Hubert texted his family members, wishing them a happy new year.
When they woke the next morning, Brooke Gauthreaux said, their mother instinctively checked Hubert Gauthreaux’s phone location and discovered that he had ventured to Bourbon Street. When they heard about the attack, they “went into panic mode,” she said.
The family drove to the University Medical Center and waited. Later that afternoon, they learned that he had died.
Someone from the hospital prayed with them. “And then we all wailed for probably another two hours together until we could muster up enough energy to come home,” Brooke Gauthreaux said.
Hubert Gauthreaux was a selfless family member with a big heart, who would call for random check-ins and drop anything to help someone, according to his sister.
“Just last week, he took a tire off his car to let his friend borrow, and he drove around on a spare tire,” she said.
Hubert Gauthreaux had been recently trying to step up his fashion sense, his sister recalled. “I’m wearing his sweatshirt right now,” she said through tears, after going through his half-done laundry. She also came across a Camaro jacket she’d purchased for him. Walking around Target one day, she spotted it and texted a picture to her brother. He had to have it, so she bought it for him.
“I think he got to wear it once,” she said. “He was my best friend.”
Drew Dauphin
Drew Dauphin, 26, was in New Orleans from Alabama with his little brother, Matthew. They had gone to a concert and, later, to eat pizza. Ten minutes before the attack, they had separated, said Becky Devereux, a friend who spoke on behalf of the family.
Drew Dauphin was a supply process manager at Honda, according to his LinkedIn page. He graduated from Auburn University last year, the school’s president, Christopher B. Roberts, said in a statement.
“Words cannot convey the sorrow the Auburn family feels for Drew’s family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time,” Roberts said. “Our thoughts are with the Dauphin family and the families of all the victims of this senseless tragedy.”
Devereux described Dauphin as “a great friend to all.” On Thursday morning, his mother told Devereux that “it was like Christmas morning when he came home.”
A statement issued by the family said that Dauphin and his relatives were “dependent on each other” and that he enjoyed being on Lake Martin in Alabama with his brother Matthew.
“We did not get to spend enough time with him and can’t believe we will never see him again this side of heaven,” the statement said.
Kareem Badawi
Kareem Badawi recently finished his first semester at the University of Alabama, where he majored in mechanical engineering. While he was home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the holidays, he and his friends decided to celebrate the new year in New Orleans.
“They say, ‘Let’s go there and have fun and let’s make this year special,’” Badawi’s father, Belal Badawi, recalled in an interview.
Kareem Badawi, 18, was social and had many friends, his father said. He was the youngest of three children and cared for his family. At the university, he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. He told his father he wanted to go to school in Alabama because he wanted to see a different state.
“He loves people,” Belal Badawi said.
In a statement, the university’s president, Stuart R. Bell, confirmed that Kareem Badawi was a student there.
“I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss,” Bell said.
Badawi’s father said that his favorite memories with his son were from when they traveled as a family. He had been to many states, including beaches in Florida, and the family had traveled to Mexico. Last year, the family took a trip to London.
“He was a lovely boy,” his father said, crying.
Nicole Perez
Nicole Perez, 27, was a devoted mother to her 4-year-old son, Melvin, and had recently been promoted to manager at the deli where she worked before she was killed in the attack.
Emily Elliott, 25, a close friend of Perez’s since high school, described her as a vital part of their tight-knit friend group.
“We were the kind of friends you told stories about to your kids hoping they’d find the same connections in their life,” she said.
Without planning it, the friends ended up having children just months apart. Their children referred to one another as siblings.
“She was the life of every room and every place she was in,” Elliott said. “You couldn’t be angry, sad or upset if she was around.”
Perez had been thrilled about her promotion and dreamed of owning a store one day, according to Kimberly Usher-Fall, the owner of the deli.
“She was so excited about the new position,” Usher-Fall told ABC News.
The sudden loss of Perez has devastated her family. Perez’s mother and sister were hospitalized for stress, Usher-Fall said.
Matthew Tenedorio
Matthew Tenedorio, 25, was known in his large extended family for his infectious laugh, easy manner and the love he lavished on his German shepherd, Brutus.
Not many knew that he also had a beautiful singing voice: “Just a secret that I was proud of, that I held in my heart,” his mother, Cathy Tenedorio, said in an interview.
He had eaten dinner with his mother, father and one of his brothers in Slidell, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans, before heading into New Orleans with friends, Cathy Tenedorio said.
Matthew Tenedorio was an audiovisual technician who worked as a contractor for the Superdome in New Orleans. He grew up in Slidell with two older brothers and a group of cousins who lived nearby. One cousin, Zack Colgan, 29, recalled endless hours spent playing with Nerf weapons, many minor injuries and getting in trouble for staying up late playing video games and overfilling the Tenedorios’ pool.
But as much as Tenedorio would roughhouse and joke around, Colgan said, he “would give the shirt off his back for you.” And when he told stories, Colgan said, he held everyone’s attention.
At the family’s boisterous parties, Colgan said, “Matthew stole the show.”
Tenedorio’s friends were separated from him in the chaos of the attack, the friends told his mother. They had seen people being shot. On Wednesday afternoon, a morgue confirmed Tenedorio’s death.
Ni’Kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux
Ni’Kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux’s family in Gulfport, Mississippi, learned Wednesday that the 18-year-old had been celebrating New Year’s Eve in New Orleans with her cousin and was among those killed in the attack on Bourbon Street.
“We didn’t know she was over there, because I would’ve discouraged it, especially during times when it’s the holidays,” said Jennifer Smith, Dedeaux’s grandmother. “None of my kids go to New Year’s parties. I’ve always had that fear.”
Dante Reed, Dedeaux’s friend since middle school, said he received a frantic call from a cousin who had been with her in New Orleans, saying that they had run when they heard gunshots and that she was nowhere to be found.
Dedeaux, known as Biscuit to her family and close friends, was looking forward to starting school at Blue Cliff College later this month, where she planned to major in nursing. She was inspired by her mother and grandmother, who were both nurses, and by working in housekeeping at a hospital.
She was very close to her family and had five siblings. She died the day after the anniversary of her grandfather’s death.
“She was a joy for the little time we had her,” Smith said. “It’s hard to believe that she’s gone.”
On the day of her high school graduation in May, her family held a party. She was given bouquets of money made by her mother. She was in her red cap and gown. Her family showed up for the ceremony in T-shirts with her face on them. Even the babies wore matching onesies for the day.
“That was the proudest moment of my life. I was so happy,” Smith said, her voice breaking. “I’m very proud of all of my grandchildren and that one especially.”
On Wednesday, Dedeaux’s mother posted a photo on Facebook of her daughter and confirmed her death in the attack. She wrote, “When your parents say don’t go anywhere please listen to them.”
Reggie Hunter
Reggie Hunter, 37, and his cousin, Kevin Curry, 38, decided to make a quick trip down to New Orleans from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to ring in the new year.
Shirell Jackson, another cousin, said Wednesday that she last heard from Hunter through a family group chat, texting wishes for a happy new year.
Around 5:30 a.m., Jackson got a phone call from University Medical Center New Orleans, and she rushed there. When she arrived, about an hour later, she discovered that Hunter, a father of two, had died from internal injuries.
“He didn’t deserve this,” Jackson said.
Courtney Hunter, 33, Reggie Hunter’s younger sister, said he loved to be around family and enjoyed their gatherings, and that he was especially competitive when it came to playing games.
Jackson said Hunter, who worked as a manager at a warehouse, had a great sense of humor that sometimes came with a touch of sarcasm. He was known for dressing up, she said, and New Year’s Eve was no exception; he sported a pair of black-and-white Nike Jordans and a black polo shirt.
“Always wanted to look very nice,” she said.
Curry was also injured in the attack and will need surgery to repair a broken femur.
Tiger Bech
Tiger Bech, a former football player at Princeton University, was also killed in the attack, the university said in a statement.
St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette, Louisiana, where Bech, 27, played football, lacrosse, and track and field before his graduation in 2015, hosted a rosary prayer service for the Bech family Wednesday evening.
“Love you always brother!” said Jack Bech, Tiger Bech’s brother and a football player at Texas Christian University, captioning a social media post sharing news of his death. “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.”