Gulfport teen killed in Bourbon Street attack was ‘sweet’ and loving, grieving mother says

Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux traveled to New Orleans from Gulfport with her cousin and a friend on Tuesday to ring in the New Year on Bourbon Street.

But her grieving mother confirmed Wednesday that Dedeaux, 18, was one of the 14 people killed when a man drove a truck down the crowded French Quarter Street in a suspected act of terrorism.

“I just want to see my baby,” Melissa Dedeaux, 40, wept. “She was the sweetest person. She would give you anything, anything.”

Barreling truck

About 35 other people were injured when the suspect, identified by law enforcement sources as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, plowed a white pickup truck through the 200 block of Bourbon Street about 3:15 a.m., according to authorities. The man shot two police officers before he was gunned down by law enforcement.

“Cheyenne,” as she was known to her family, wasn’t supposed to be in New Orleans, according to her mother. She sneaked over with her 18-year-old cousin and their friend, Zion Parsons, 17.

Parsons said the trio was leaving Voodoo Chicken & Daquiris on Bourbon near Bienville Street when “out of nowhere” he heard “commotion” and “banging.”

Melissa Dedeaux’s niece told her gunfire rang out, and they began running. Cheyenne Dedeaux darted into the street and into the path of the barreling truck. She suffered horrific injuries.

The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office has not officially confirmed Cheyenne Dedeaux’s death, but Melissa Dedeaux said she knows her daughter was killed.

“As a mother, when my niece and [Parsons] said they covered her with a sheet, I just knew that was it for my daughter,” Melissa Dedeaux said.

On Wednesday morning, the family had reunited with Melissa Dedeaux’s shaken niece and were searching the French Quarter for the spot where the trio had parked their car the night before.

Ball of sunshine

Cheyenne Dedeaux was the third oldest of Melissa Dedeaux’s six children.

“She was my favorite,” Melissa Dedeaux admitted. “She was my child.”

Cheyenne graduated from Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, Mississippi, in 2024 and was scheduled to begin a nursing program at Blue Cliff College on Jan. 13. She was following the lead of her mother, who is also a nurse.

“Cheyenne was a very smart and outgoing girl,” Melissa Dedeaux said. “She’s never gotten into any trouble.”

Known by the nickname “Biscuit” by friends, Parsons said Cheyenne Dedeaux “was never down, or grumpy. He called her “a little ball of sunshine” who always tried to stay positive, cheering friends if she detected an attitude or negative energy.

“You know those kinds of people where you can’t find a reason to dislike them. She was one of those people,” Parsons said.

Melissa Dedeaux described her daughter as a popular person who was always sounded by friends.

“If she wasn’t at work, she was sleeping or getting together with her girls. She always had carloads of friends,” Melissa Dedeaux said.

Cheyenne Dedeaux was a momma and a daddy’s girl, turning to her father, Nicholas Dedeaux, when she was cross with her mother. But those moments never lasted for long, Melissa Dedeaux said.

As Melissa Dedeaux awaited word from law enforcement on Wednesday, she urged children and teens to listen to their parents, to share where they are going.

“I didn’t even know she came over here,” Melissa Dedeaux said. “No matter how good you are, how sweet you are, you can be the one that’s buried. Things like this can happen.”

This story was originally published January 1, 2025 at 11:59 AM.