The stories of Mississippi and Louisiana have always been closely intertwined, almost never more so than during times of catastrophic tragedy.
Two Mississippians are among the dead in the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day, according to Governor Tate Reeves.
“Please join Elee and me in praying for Mississippians Nikyra Dedeaux and Matthew Tenedorio who were tragically killed during the terrorist attack in New Orleans.
Mississippi will never forget them,” he posted on social media Thursday morning.
Dedeaux, who went by “Cheyenne” and was affectionately called “Biscuit” by her friends, was an 18-year-old from Gulfport. A graduate of Harrison County High School and an aspiring nurse, she was one of six brothers and sisters. She was intent on enjoying the holiday with her cousin and a friend in the French Quarter.
Cheyenne’s friend Zion Parsons told reporters she was one of those people you couldn’t find a reason not to like. She had gone to New Orleans without telling her parents, her mother said, and she wasn’t supposed to be there. Her cousin described watching responders cover her body with a sheet.
“I didn’t even know she came over here,” her mother, Melissa Dedeaux, told Nola.com. “No matter how good you are, how sweet you are, you can be the one that’s buried. Things like this can happen.”
Tenedorio, 25, was a graduate of Pearl River Central High School. He worked as an audiovisual technician for the Superdome. A GoFundMe set up in his name said, “Matthew was always the one to lighten the mood, able to laugh off life’s challenges and spread positivity wherever he went.”
He had two brothers, three nephews and a niece, according to his family’s writings on the GoFundMe page.
“Matthew was always the one to lighten the mood, able to laugh off life’s challenges and spread positivity wherever he went,” they wrote.
There are also stories from those who barely made it home.
Jessica Wilson of Wesson posted to her Facebook that she and her husband Jacob were home and safe after Jacob was actually hit by the terrorist’s truck.
“Jacob’s leg and foot was hit by the truck pushing me out of the way of this vehicle that crashes right next to us on Bourbon Street,” she wrote. “Jacob was the last person he hit. He crashed next to us.”
Jessica described being just 10 feet from the vehicle when the gunfire started. She and Jacob were pinned down, bullets hitting the windows behind them, until Jacob was able to pull them into Rick’s Cabaret, which was just next to where they were.
“Within minutes cops were covering the streets. We are blessed to be here,” she wrote. “There were bodies covering Bourbon Street for a long way. We ran past dead bodies… Please pray for these people and their families. They could of been us.”
Todd Hart and his friends Nick and India Crews were also on Bourbon Street early on the morning of New Year’s Day.
“It is nothing but a miracle that I can make this post. Everyone, please hug your family and tell them how much you love them, because you never know when death will knock at your door,” he wrote in a post. “And let me be 100% clear, this was absolutely 100% a terrorist attack.”
Hart said he saw the truck as it flew toward him at 70 miles per hour and accelerating “with nothing but a force field of bodies, debris, wreckage, metal barriers, carts” between them. It missed him by just a few feet before hitting the crane where it would come to a stop.
“Thank goodness the crane was there, because if not, the guy would’ve gone 10 blocks instead of 4,” Hart said.
He dove into Rick’s Cabaret to get away from the truck, but quickly realized he needed to check on his friends. He asked the bouncer to let him out so he could find them, but just as he got outside, the shooting started.
“I’m not talking about some bang bang gun shots. Countless amounts of bullets flying,” he said.
He made it back into Rick’s just as they were slamming the door and they took cover. After a few minutes, he said he wanted to go, and the bouncer went outside to confer with police before letting him go. Police escorted him another two blocks as he made his way out of the area.
“And I promise you, I’m never gonna be the same after seeing the devastation I had to walk through,” he said. “Thank God, I’m safe. Thank God, I’m alive. Hug your family. Tell them you love them. Life can go at any second. I love all of y’all.”
