Kareem Badawi, 18
Kareem Badawi was in the midst of his freshman yr on the College of Alabama after graduating from Episcopal highschool in Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s capital metropolis, about an hour’s drive from New Orleans. Badawi had pledged to affix the Sigma Chi fraternity at his college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, when he was killed.
“I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss,” the college’s president, Stuart R Bell, mentioned.
Badawi’s father, Belal, printed a Fb submit recounting “great sadness and grief” over his son’s homicide. The submit added: “We ask Allah to shower his mercy on him and give us patience and strength to overcome.”
Martin Bech, 27
Martin “Tiger” Bech was a local of Lafayette, Louisiana, roughly three hours’ drive west of New Orleans. He performed soccer at St Thomas Extra Catholic highschool in Lafayette earlier than doing the identical at Princeton College, the Ivy League establishment in New Jersey.
Bech graduated from Princeton in 2021 and traded at a brokerage agency in New York, St Thomas Extra’s athletic director, Kim Broussard, mentioned.
Princeton’s soccer coach, Bob Surace, mentioned in an announcement that it made sense his workforce – the Tigers – shared a nickname with Bech. “He was a tiger in every way – a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend,” Surace remarked.
Bech’s brother, Jack, is a soccer participant for Texas Christian College. He beforehand performed soccer at Louisiana State College, whose workforce is fiercely supported in Baton Rouge and past – and is nicknamed the Tigers, too.
“Love you always, brother!” Jack Bech wrote on X. “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.”
Andrew Dauphin, 26
Andrew “Drew” Dauphin graduated from Alabama’s Auburn College in 2023. His profile on the skilled improvement social media platform LinkedIn indicated he labored as a provider course of engineer for American Honda Motor Firm Inc after finishing his research at Auburn.
“Words cannot convey the sorrow the Auburn family feels for Drew’s family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time,” Auburn’s president, Christopher Roberts, wrote in an announcement. “Our thoughts are with the Dauphin family and the families of all the victims of this senseless tragedy.”
Ni’Kyra Dedeaux, 18
Ni’Kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux resided in Gulfport, Mississippi, a couple of 75-minute drive north-east of New Orleans. She graduated from Gulfport’s Harrison Central highschool and was getting ready to embark on a nursing program at Blue Cliff Faculty later in January.
Video on social media confirmed her smiling broadly and petting the snout of a mounted police officer’s horse on Bourbon Avenue shortly earlier than the assault.
Dedeaux’s mom, Melissa Dedeaux, instructed the New Orleans information outlet Nola.com that her daughter had been good, outgoing and “the sweetest person”.
“She would give you anything, anything,” Melissa Dedeaux mentioned. “Anything.”
William DiMaio, 25
William “Billy” DiMaio attended Holmdel highschool in his New Jersey hometown of Holmdel, earlier than graduating from Chestnut Hill Faculty in Philadelphia. Family members recalled him as a standout lacrosse participant, and he labored as an account govt in New York for the radio broadcasting chain Audacy.
He had gone to New Orleans to spend time with buddies who had been ringing within the begin of 2025 and attending the school soccer playoff quarter-final between the colleges of Notre Dame and Georgia.
“Billy had a smile that could light up a room,” DiMaio’s household mentioned in an announcement. Describing him because the oldest of three siblings, the household added: “His energetic personality inspired everyone around him. He cared for others more than himself and … held a unique and irreplaceable role in their lives as well as cousins’ and friends’. He will be dearly missed.”
Hubert Gauthreaux, 21
Hubert Gauthreaux graduated in 2021 from Archbishop Shaw highschool, a Catholic establishment in Marrero, Louisiana, simply throughout the Mississippi River from New Orleans. His household recalled him as a devotee of baseball who had a vibrant humorousness.
“You are so loved by everyone you’ve touched in this world,” his sister, Brooke, wrote on social media. “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.”
She additionally wrote: “A piece of me [is] gone. My sweet, selfless baby brother. You deserved so much better than this.”
Reggie Hunter, 37
Reggie Hunter resided in Prairieville, Louisiana, west of New Orleans and east of Baton Rouge.
Hunter’s household described him as a father of two who on a whim determined to affix the revelry on Bourbon Avenue on New Yr’s Eve after finishing his work as a warehouse supervisor.
In a social media submit, Hunter’s cousin Shirell Robinson Jackson wrote that Hunter’s homicide was a “punch in the gut”.
“He had just texted Happy New Year in our family group text,” she added.
Terrence Kennedy, 63
Terrence Kennedy grew up in New Orleans’s Uptown part and graduated from Walter Cohen highschool, named after an area free man of coloration born shortly earlier than the US civil warfare who had a distinguished political profession. He loved NFL soccer and rooted for the New Orleans Saints, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and – his favourite workforce – the Pittsburgh Steelers, all of which have had stars hailing from Kennedy’s hometown.
Kennedy’s household instructed Nola.com that he had knowledgeable kinfolk he was going to Bourbon Avenue to have a drink and toast within the new yr.
“I know people say this all time but if you knew ‘Uncle Terry’ you knew he was nice and quiet and super clean,” Kennedy’s niece Monisha James wrote on social media. “I’m just really at a loss for words.
Nicole Perez, 27
Nicole Perez was a 27-year-old mother and delicatessen manager from Metairie, Louisiana, a suburban area immediately to the west of New Orleans.
An online tribute said Perez had been dedicated to her job and had a son who was about five years old. In addition to her son, Perez’s survivors include her mother and her sister.
Her manager, Kimberly Usher, wrote: “She was so beautiful and full of life.”
Edward Pettifer, 31
British nationwide Edward Pettifer was killed whereas visiting New Orleans from Chelsea in west London. He was the stepson of Alexandra Pettifer, previously often known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, who was the nanny for Princes William and Harry from 1993 to 1999, together with on the time of their mom Diana’s demise.
An announcement issued by Pettifer’s household mentioned his family members had been “devastated at the tragic news of Ed’s death” on Bourbon Avenue.
“He was a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and a friend to so many,” it mentioned.
Members of the UK’s royal household had been amongst these to specific solidarity with these grieving Pettifer. William mentioned he and Catherine, Princess of Wales had been “shocked and saddened” by the murders of Petiffer “and all those innocent people” killed alongside him.
In the meantime, royal sources instructed the Guardian that King Charles had personally been in contact with Pettifer’s household to convey his condolences after studying of the homicide.
Latasha Polk, 45
Latasha Polk, 45, had a 14-year-old son and was a nurse’s assistant earlier than being killed in the course of the Bourbon Avenue assault, her household instructed WWL Louisiana.
Polk’s household mentioned she was a hardworking nurse’s assistant. Data present she resided in New Orleans.
In response to what her sister, Regnicea Butler, mentioned to New Orleans’ NBC affiliate WDSU, the French Quarter was Polk’s favourite place.
Brandon Taylor, 43
Brandon Taylor had beforehand resided in each Terrytown and Harvey, New Orleans-area communities on the opposite aspect of the Mississippi River from the historic French Quarter neighborhood the place the assault on Bourbon Avenue occurred.
His family members instructed Nola.com that he had labored as a cook dinner and was an aficionado of rap music.
“No one should ever have to die like that,” Taylor’s fiancee, Heather Genusa, mentioned to the information web site. “He didn’t deserve it.
“Brandon was my everything, and I lost it all.”
Matthew Tenedorio, 25
Matthew Tenedorio graduated from Pearl River Central highschool in Carriere, Mississippi, a drive of lower than an hour to the north-east of New Orleans. He labored as an audiovisual technician on the Caesars Superdome, which hosted the Notre Dame-Georgia soccer recreation that many had been in New Orleans to see on the time of the Bourbon Avenue assault.
Tenedorio’s cousin Christina Colgan Bounds mentioned he had spent New Yr’s Eve having dinner with household at his brother’s home in Slidell, Louisiana, a couple of 30-minute drive from New Orleans. He later joined some buddies within the metropolis, and the group made its solution to Bourbon Avenue.
Born on Lengthy Island in New York earlier than transferring south to be close to his grandparents, Tenedorio “made lasting memories and friendships” throughout his lifetime, his family members mentioned in a web based tribute.
“Matthew was always the one to lighten the mood, able to laugh off life’s challenges and spread positivity wherever he went,” the tribute mentioned.
Elliot Wilkinson, 40
Elliot Wilkinson was from Slidell, Louisiana. His brother, Cecil Wilkinson, instructed CNN that Elliot had had a historical past of psychological sickness, had skilled being unhoused and not too long ago had gotten out of jail.
In response to the community, Cecil had supplied his brother a spot to remain however that Elliot had not accepted as a result of “he never wanted to be a burden to the family”.
Cecil Wilkinson mentioned he, his sister and his brother’s daughter had been devastated to be taught Elliot had been killed within the assault on Bourbon Avenue.
“You [were] loved and you will be truly missed,” Elliot’s brother wrote on a social media submit. “I know life was hard for you at times. But I wasn’t expecting to get the phone call [that] … you … got hit in New Orleans in the French Quarter.”
