NEW ORLEANS, LA – An 18-year-old Gulfport woman was among the 10 victims killed when a truck plowed through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during the early hours of New Year’s Day, according to reports by NOLA.com. Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, affectionately known as “Cheyenne” by her family, had traveled to New Orleans with her cousin and a friend to celebrate the holiday.
The incident occurred around 3:15 a.m. when a suspect, identified by law enforcement as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, drove a white pickup truck down the crowded French Quarter street. According to officials, Jabbar injured approximately 35 others and shot two police officers before being fatally shot by officers.
Cheyenne was leaving a local restaurant, Voodoo Chicken & Daquiris, near Bienville Street with her 18-year-old cousin and friend Zion Parsons when the chaos unfolded. Parsons recalled hearing “commotion” and “banging” before the group began running. Cheyenne darted into the street, directly into the path of the speeding truck, according to NOLA reports.
Although the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office has yet to officially confirm her death, Melissa Dedeaux said she is certain her daughter was among the victims. “As a mother, when my niece and [Parsons] said they covered her with a sheet, I just knew that was it for my daughter,” she said.
Cheyenne was a 2024 graduate of Harrison Central High School and had plans to begin a nursing program at Blue Cliff College on Jan. 13, following in the footsteps of her mother, who is also a nurse. As the family awaits more information from authorities, they are left mourning a young woman who was full of potential and taken far too soon.
Authorities are investigating the attack as terrorism.
