Second South MS victim of Bourbon Street attack identified. Parents begged him not to go

Matthew Tenedorio was just starting the job of his dreams.

The 25-year-old who spent his teenage years in South Mississippi worked at Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans as an audiovisual technician, said Christina Bounds, his cousin.

“He was the sweetest,” she said. “A larger-than-life kind of kid.”

Bounds and Tenedorio’s family are grieving after he was shot and killed early New Year’s Day when a suspected terrorist drove a rented pickup truck down crowded Bourbon Street in an attack that authorities say killed 14 and injured dozens more.

Tenedorio was having New Year’s Eve dinner with his family and told them his friends wanted to go into the city, Bounds said. His parents begged him not to.

Tenedorio was walking on Bourbon Street with friends when a body fell above them, Bounds said. They looked down. They heard screams. Tenedorio walked toward the cries to help. His two friends were steps behind him.

“Had he just been with them,” Bounds said, “he would not have gotten hit by the bullet.”

Tenedorio was shot by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who authorities said plowed through the street, crashed the truck, then started firing until police officers returned the gunshots and killed him. Police pushed Tenedorio’s friends into a bar for safety, Bounds said. But he was already hit.

Bounds said Tenedorio’s parents, Louis and Cathy Tenedorio, have little information about their son. She said they showed up at University Medical Center in New Orleans and were greeted by the coroner. Authorities have told them to expect little to no information about their son’s death for two weeks, she said.

His mother “has so many questions,” Bounds said. “She knows nothing and they won’t tell her anything.”

Tenedorio was born in Long Island, New York and moved to Slidell when he was four, according to his cousin. His family then moved to Pearl River County, and he attended Pearl River Central High School.

“He was a wonderful kid,” his father, Louis Tenedorio, told NBC News. “I’m in disbelief.”

He had recently started his job at the Superdome and loved it, Bounds said. He was a good uncle to his niece and nephews.

“Literally every picture that we go through he has the biggest smile in every single one,” she said.

“He didn’t deserve this kind of death,” she said. “They were going to one more bar.”

The family has started a GoFundMe for Tenedorio’s funeral expenses. Gov. Tate Reeves said he was praying for Tenedorio and Nikyra Dedeaux, an 18-year-old from Gulfport also killed in the attack.

“Mississippi will never forget them,” Reeves said.

This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 10:29 AM.