On New Year’s Day 2025, 25-year-old Matthew Tenedorio was killed during the mass attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that left 15 people dead. Matthew, originally from Mineola, New York, had moved to the New Orleans area and worked as an audiovisual technician for the Caesars Superdome and the Smoothie King Center. Family members describe him as bright, loving, the life of every room, and the youngest of three boys and an uncle to four.

The attacker, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, used a truck to drive down the crowded street and was later killed in a shootout with police. Matthew became separated from his friends during the chaos. Early reports conflicted over how he died; some initial accounts said he was struck by the truck, while eyewitnesses with him reportedly said he was not hit by the vehicle. A nurse friend of the family who examined his body suggested a gunshot wound to the femoral artery, and the family has publicly sought clarity about the precise cause and circumstances of his death.

If anyone who was on Bourbon Street that night or who knew Matthew has information about his movements or how he was injured, please come forward.