An aspiring nurse, a football star, a single mother and a father of 2 killed in New Orleans attack
NEW ORLEANS– An 18-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a nurse, single mother, father of two and former Princeton football star suffered fatal injuries early Wednesday morning when the driver of a white pickup truck drove down Bourbon Street, packed with holidaymakers. .
Officials have not yet released the names of the 15 people killed in the New Year’s Day truck attack in New Orleans, but their families and friends have begun sharing their stories. Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna of New Orleans said in a statement late Wednesday that they will release the names of the dead once autopsies are completed and they speak to next of kin. About 30 people were injured.
Zion Parsons of Gulfport, Mississippi, had been celebrating New Year’s Eve on his first night on Bourbon Street when a vehicle appeared and crashed into his friend, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who he said dreamed of becoming a nurse.
“A truck came into the corner and rushed through and threw people like in a movie scene, people in the air,” Parsons, 18, told The Associated Press. “It hit her and threw her at least 30 feet, and I was lucky to be alive.”
As the crowd scattered in the chaos, he ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and mutilated victims, hearing gunshots and explosive sounds.
“Bodies, bodies all over the streets, everyone screaming and shouting,” said Parsons. “People crying on the floor are like brain tissue all over the floor. It was just crazy, it was the most like a war zone I’ve ever seen.”
Dedeaux was a responsible daughter — smaller than all her siblings, but the one who helped take care of everyone, Parsons said. Dedeaux had a job at a hospital and was going to college and work toward her goal of becoming a registered nurse.
“She had her mindset — she didn’t have everything figured out, but she had the plan laid out,” Parsons said.
A 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge was among 15 people killed Wednesday morning when a pickup truck drove down Bourbon Street in what officials called an act of terror.
Reggie Hunter had just left work and was on his way to celebrate New Year’s with a cousin when the attack occurred, his cousin Shirell Jackson. told Nola.com.
Hunter was killed and his cousin was injured, Jackson said.
A former Louisiana high school and college football player was among those killed after a driver plowed a pickup truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter, an education official said.
Tiger Bech, 27, died late Wednesday morning at a hospital in New Orleans, according to local media citing Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette. Bech attended high school, where he played wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back, NOLA.com reported.
Bech played football at Princeton University before graduating in 2021. He most recently worked as an investment trader at a brokerage firm in New York.
Princeton football coach Bob Surace said Wednesday he was texting with Bech’s father, sharing memories of the player, who was a college kick returner and receiver from 2017 to 2019. He earned All-Ivy League honors as a returner.
“He might be the first Tiger to ever play for us, and that nickname defined him as a competitor,” Surace told ESPN. The school’s nickname is the Tigers. “He was someone who somehow, like in the key moments, just excelled and was full of energy and full of life.”
Bech had worked at Seaport Global, where company spokesperson Lisa Lieberman could not confirm his death. But she told The Associated Press that “he was extremely highly regarded by everyone who knew him.”
Bech’s younger brother, Jack, is a top wide receiver at Texas Christian University.
In response to a KLFY-TV report posted to You inspired me every day, now you can be with me every moment. I have this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.”
Nicole Perez was a single mother of a four-year-old son who was working hard to improve her family’s lives when she was killed in the truck attack in New Orleans, her employer said.
Perez, in his late 20s, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy’s Deli in Metarie, Louisiana, and “was very excited about it,” deli owner Kimberly Usher said in a telephone interview with AP. Usher confirmed Perez’s death through her sister, who also works for her.
Usher said Perez would walk to the deli in the morning, which opened around breakfast time, and ask a lot of questions about the business side of the operation. She was also allowed to take her son Melo to work, where she taught him basic skills during breaks.
“She was a very good mother,” said Usher, who started a GoFundMe account to cover Perez’s funeral costs and to help with expenses for her son who “will have to transition to a new living situation,” according to the donation request .
__
Jack Brook in New Orleans, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
__
The story has been corrected to change Tiger Bech’s age from 28 to 27.