Flowers are placed Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, at a memorial site on Bourbon Street in New Orleans near where 14 people were killed early Wednesday in a terrorist attack. The large yellow barrier is one of four that were placed on each side of hydraulic gate installed across Bourbon Street a day after Shamsud-Din Jabbar sped down three blocks before crashing and being killed in a shootout with police. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
NEW ORLEANS — All 14 people killed in Wednesday morning’s terror attack on Bourbon Street have been identified, either through family members or verification from the local coroner.
LaTasha Polk, 47, of New Orleans was the final person whose name was unknown until family members confirmed she had died to The Times-Picayune. She was celebrating New Year’s Eve in the French Quarter with her brother, Prentiss Polk, who is still missing, according to the report.
Polk’s family has started a GoFundMe page to assist her surviving teenage son.
BBC News confirmed Edward Pettifer, 31, of England was also among those killed. He was the stepson of the former nanny for Prince William and Price Harry..
Orleans Parish Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna did not share Pettifer’s name Friday when he released the names of 12 of the deceased, citing the wishes of his family. The remaining victim, Polk, was identified only as a Black woman on the coroner’s list.
As of Friday, McKenna said he has yet to release the body of Shamsud-Din Jabbar at the direction of federal investigators.The 42-year-old Texas native tore through a three-block section of the French Quarter in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
More than three dozen people were injured, including two New Orleans police officers who were shot during a gunfight with Jabbar, who was killed after firing at law enforcement after he crashed his rented Ford F-15o pickup truck into a lift vehicle.
A large crowd gathered Saturday night for a vigil ceremony at a memorial site that has materialized on Bourbon, just feet from where Jabbar entered Bourbon Street. Flowers, crosses, stuffed animals and candles are being placed next to a hydraulic street barrier, which wasn’t in place ahead of New Year’s Eve.
GoFundMe has verified that its fundraising pages linked below have been established by victims’ families and those who were injured in the terrorist attack.
Other fatalities
Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi. The Times-Picayune reported she had accompanied her cousin and friend to the French Quarter for New Year’s Eve, her mother said.
Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, of Gretna. He graduated from Archbishop Shaw High School in 2021 and was remembered as a bright and promising young man, according to the school representative.
Martin “Tiger” Bech, 28, of New York. Bech was a graduate of St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette who graduated from Princeton University, where he played on the football team. KLFY-TV in Lafayette reported Bech worked for a financial firm in New York. His brother Jack, who played for LSU before transferring to Texas Tech.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Ryan Quigley, who is described as a close friend of Tiger Bech, to help him with medical costs associated with injuries he suffered in the attack. Quigley was a teammate of Bech’s at Princeton and also worked at the same business, WPVI-TV reported.
Reggie Hunter, 37, of Baton Rouge. WAFB-TV reported the father of two made a last-minute decision to travel to the French Quarter with his cousin, who was also struck by the truck and injured.
Hunter’s family has created a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs
Kareem Badawi, 18, of Baton Rouge. The 2024 graduate of Episcopal High School was a student at the University of Alabama. WAFB-TV reported the school sent a message to parents Wednesday about Badawi’s death. His classmate, Parker Vidrine, was also injured in the attack.
Nicole Perez, 27, of Metairie. The Times-Picayune reported she was the mother of a 4-year-old son and was recently promoted to a manager at the deli where she worked.
Drew Dauphin, 26, of Montgomery, Alabama. He was an engineer who worked for Honda, according to a report from AL.com.
Matthew Tendorio, 25, an audiovisual technician at the Superdome from Slidell. His family has created an GoFundMe donation page to help cover the cost of his funeral.
Billy DeMaio, 25, of Homedel, New Jersey. He was an account executive with Audacy Inc. A GoFundMe page has been establish to provide support to DeMaio’s parents.
Terrence Kennedy, 63 of New Orleans. WDSU-TV first confirmed his death in the attack. Kennedy’s family told The Times-Picayune he had gone out for a drink in the French Quarter to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Brandon Taylor, 43, of Terrytown. The Times-Picayune reported that Taylor was with his fiancée at a club in the 300 block of Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning. He stepped out onto the street near a lift vehicle just before Jabbar crashed his truck into it. It’s believed Taylor was the last person he struck.
Elliot Wilkinson, 40, of Lafayette. His brother, Cecil, posted on his Facebook page that he was notified Friday morning that his brother was among the fatalities. KPEL-FM reported that the Orleans Parish coroner had contacted the family.
The injured
The University of Georgia, whose football team took part in the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game against Notre Dame, confirmed that one of its students was critically injured in the terror attack. WBBH-TV confirmed the student is 19-year-old Elle Eisele of Fort Myers, Florida.
Eisele’s high school classmate, Steele Idelson, 19, was also hurt. She is a student at San Diego State University.
Adam Coste, an employee of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, suffered “extensive injuries to his lower extremities,” according to a friend who created a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses. He identified Coste as an Army veteran.
Jeremi Sensky of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, was paralyzed from the waist down before Wednesday’s attack. He was in his wheelchair going back to his French Quarter hotel room after dinner when Jabbar’s truck struck him on Bourbon Street, NBC News reported. He sustained two broken legs and needed surgery.
A GoFundMe page is available for anyone wanting to help Sensky with his medical expenses.
Alexis Scott-Windham of Mobile, Alabama, was struck by Jabbar’s truck then shot in the foot when he exchanged gunfire with police, The Times-Picayune reported. Her friend, Brandon Whitsett, was also hit by the truck and suffered multiple injuries. Two others in their group received minor injuries.
Scott-Windham has set up a GoFundMe page to receive assistance with her medical costs.
Two visitors from Mexico were also among the injured, WVUE-TV Fox 8 reported. Both are in stable condition at a local hospital, and the Mexican consulate in New Orleans is working to keep their families informed.
ABC News reported that two Israeli nationals were injured. Israel’s consulate is sending a representative to New Orleans.
Lone actor
Jabbar posted five videos on his Facebook page in the two hours before he made his fatal drive down Bourbon Street. In one video recorded while he was driving from Houston to New Orleans, Jabbar said he “joined ISIS before the summer,” FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia said at a news conference Thursday.
The pickup Jabbar drove was rented Monday in Houston, and he made the trip to New Orleans on New Year’s Eve. Investigators believe he built improvised explosive devices at a short-term rental property 2 miles from the French Quarter.
One of the IEDs was found inside the pickup truck, which featured an Islamic State flag on a pole attached to its trailer hitch. The FBI said Friday a working remote detonation device was also found inside the truck.
Raia said surveillance video shows Jabbar placing a cooler with a homemade bomb inside at the intersection of Bourbon and Orleans streets and a second device two blocks away. Both were safely detonated after the French Quarter was cleared and police swept the neighborhood for evidence and other explosives.
“Precursor chemicals” for bomb making were found in the mobile home where Jabbar lived in north Houston, according to the FBI. Agents broke down the door of the residence Thursday and returned to the site Friday in search of more evidence.
The FBI is saying their investigation to this point indicates Jabbar acted alone in planning the terror attack. Agents do not currently believe there are any links between the incident in New Orleans and Wednesday’s explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
The driver of the truck, U.S. Army Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, 37, left notes on his iPhone praising President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk and criticizing Democrats, the FBI said. Livelsberger committed suicide before the explosion, according to investigators.
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.