{"id":121142,"date":"2025-01-02T15:03:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T15:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/an-aspiring-nurse-a-football-star-a-single-mother-and-a-father-of-2-killed-in-new-orleans-attack-the-associated-press\/"},"modified":"2025-01-02T15:03:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T15:03:33","slug":"an-aspiring-nurse-a-football-star-a-single-mother-and-a-father-of-2-killed-in-new-orleans-attack-the-associated-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/an-aspiring-nurse-a-football-star-a-single-mother-and-a-father-of-2-killed-in-new-orleans-attack-the-associated-press\/","title":{"rendered":"An aspiring nurse, a football star, a single mother and a father of 2 killed in New Orleans attack – The Associated Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
A man whose friend was one of those killed in New Orleans\u2019 French Quarter early New Year\u2019s Day describes the chaos after a driver rammed into a crowd of revelers. At least 10 died and dozens were hurt. Police killed the driver. (AP Video: Jack Brook)
Zion Parsons, 18, talks about the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, and the scene after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matthew Hinton)
Trevant Hayes, 20, sits in the French Quarter after the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matthew Hinton)
A man whose friend was one of those killed in New Orleans\u2019 French Quarter early New Year\u2019s Day describes the chaos after a driver rammed into a crowd of revelers. At least 10 died and dozens were hurt. Police killed the driver. (AP Video: Jack Brook)
Zion Parsons, 18, talks about the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, and the scene after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matthew Hinton)
Zion Parsons, 18, talks about the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, and the scene after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matthew Hinton)
Trevant Hayes, 20, sits in the French Quarter after the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matthew Hinton)
Trevant Hayes, 20, sits in the French Quarter after the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Matthew Hinton)
Live updates: At least 15 dead in New Orleans New Year\u2019s Day truck attack.<\/a><\/span>
NEW ORLEANS (AP) \u2014 An 18-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton football star suffered fatal injuries when the driver of a white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street<\/a><\/span>, packed with holiday revelers.
Officials have not yet released the names of the 15 people killed in the New Orleans New Year\u2019s Day truck attack<\/a><\/span>, but their families and friends have started sharing their stories. New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement late Wednesday that they will release the names of the dead once autopsies are complete and they\u2019ve talked with the next of kin. About 30 people were injured.
Zion Parsons of Gulfport, Mississippi, had been celebrating New Year\u2019s Eve at his first night on Bourbon Street when a vehicle appeared and plowed into his friend, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who he said had dreamed of becoming a nurse.
\u201cA truck hit the corner and comes barreling through throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air,\u201d Parsons, 18, told The Associated Press. \u201cIt hit her and flung her like at least 30 feet and I was just lucky to be alive.\u201d
As the crowd scattered in the chaos he ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and maimed victims, hearing gunshots and explosive sounds.
\u201cBodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering\u201d Parsons said. \u201cPeople crying on the floor, like brain matter all over the ground. It was just insane, like the closest thing to a war zone that I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dedeaux was a responsible daughter \u2014 shorter than all her siblings but the one who helped take care of everyone, Parsons said. Dedeaux had a job at a hospital and was set to start college and begin working towards her goal of becoming a registered nurse.
\u201cShe had her mindset \u2014 she didn\u2019t have everything figured out but she had the plan laid down,\u201d Parsons said.
A 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, Reggie Hunter had just left work and headed to celebrate New Year\u2019s with a cousin when the attack happened, his first cousin Shirell Jackson told Nola.com.<\/a><\/span>
Hunter died and his cousin was injured, Jackson said.
A former high school and college football player from Louisiana was among those who died, according to an education official.
Tiger Bech, 27, died late Wednesday morning at a New Orleans hospital, according to local media outlets citing Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette. Bech attended the high school, where he played wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back, NOLA.com reported<\/a><\/span>.
Bech played football at Princeton University before graduating in 2021. Most recently he was working as an investment trader at a New York brokerage firm.
Princeton football coach Bob Surace said Wednesday that he had been texting with Bech\u2019s father, sharing memories of the player, who was a school kick returner and receiver from 2017 to 2019. He earned All-Ivy League honors as a returner.
\u201cHe might be the first Tiger to ever play for us, and that nickname kind of described him as a competitor,\u201d Surace told ESPN. The school\u2019s nickname is the Tigers. \u201cHe was somebody that somehow, like in the key moments, just excelled and was full of energy, full of life.\u201d
Bech has been working at Seaport Global, where company spokesperson Lisa Lieberman could not confirm his death. But she told The Associated Press that \u201che was extremely well regarded by everybody who knew him.\u201d
Bech\u2019s younger brother, Jack, is a top wide receiver at Texas Christian University.
In a response to a KLFY-TV report<\/a><\/span> posted on X about Tiger Bech\u2019s death, a post from an account for a Jack Bech on the social media site said: \u201cLove you always brother ! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don\u2019t worry. This is for us.\u201d
Nicole Perez was a single mother to a 4-year-old son working hard to make life better for her family when she was killed, according to her employer.
Perez, who was in her late 20s, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy\u2019s Deli in Metairie, Louisiana, and \u201cwas really excited about it,\u201d deli owner Kimberly Usher said in a phone interview with AP. Usher confirmed Perez\u2019s death through her sister, who also works for her.
Usher said Perez would walk in the morning to the deli, which opened at breakfast time, and would ask lots of questions about the business side of the operations. She also was permitted to bring her son, Melo, to work, where during breaks she taught him basic learning skills.
\u201cShe was a really good mom,\u201d said Usher, who started a GoFundMe account to cover Perez\u2019s burial costs and to help with expenses for her son that \u201che will need to transition into a new living situation,\u201d the donation request says.
The story has been updated to correct Tiger Bech\u2019s age from 28 to 27, and to correct the spelling of Metairie, Louisiana, from Metarie.
Jack Brook in New Orleans, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.A man whose friend was one of those killed in New Orleans\u2019 French Quarter early New Year\u2019s Day describes the chaos after a driver rammed into a crowd of revelers. At least 10 died and dozens were hurt. Police killed the driver. (AP Video: Jack Brook)Zion Parsons, 18, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-121142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}