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Lowcountry woman remembers New Orleans victim laid to rest this weekend

Matthew Tenedorio with his grandmother Jane Colgan. The 25-year-old was killed early New Year's Day by a man who used his car as a weapon on crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
Tenedorio family
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Provided
Matthew Tenedorio with his grandmother Jane Colgan. The 25-year-old was killed early New Year's Day by a man who used his car as a weapon on crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

A Charleston mother shares the loss of a loved one killed in the New Year's Day terrorist attack.

As the nation celebrated the promise of a New Year, a man armed with a 6,000-pound truck careened down crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans, striking people and exchanging gunfire with police.

15 people were killed, including the suspect. And, dozens of others were injured, many critically.

Some 700 miles away in Charleston, Erin Foushee saw the news as she scrolled through her phone New Year’s Day, but she quickly looked away.
 
“I just feel like there’s been so much bad news in our world that I kind of set it aside for a minute, “says Foushee. “Like, I can’t look at that right now and I closed it.”

Foushee couldn’t ignore the news for long. She got a text from her father later that day. A loved one from Picayune Mississippi had been killed in the attack, police now call an act of terrorism.

"And I'm just kind of standing there thinking, like, am I reading that right?"

Foushee’ s cousin Cathy lost her youngest son, 25-year-old Matthew Tenedorio.

Memorial on Bourbon Street pays tribute to 14 people killed in a terrorist attack in New Orleans. Jan.10, 2025.
Cathy Tenedorio
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Provided
Memorial on Bourbon Street pays tribute to 14 people killed in a terrorist attack in New Orleans. Jan.10, 2025.

Immediately, Foushee called her cousin and learned the family had enjoyed dinner together in Slidell, Louisiana New Year’s Eve before Matthew decided to head to New Orleans with friends some 30 miles away.

She says his parents and older brothers expressed concern.

“Like, ‘oh, you don’t want to do that. It’s a big holiday, you know, like just avoid it,’” explains Foushee.

“And so, they were encouraging Matthew not to go.”

Before he left, Foushee says, Matthew promised to text his parents from New Orleans, but that text was never sent.

What happened next, comes from friends.

“They were on Bourbon Street, and they saw kind of a commotion and it looked like bodies were flying,” says Foushee.

The young men ran, not away from the commotion but toward it, to see if they could help.

“And then, when the gunshots started, people started dispersing into whatever open door they could find,” she says.

“And that was when Matthew's friend said he lost him. He didn't see him again.”

Friends found Matthew’s car where he’d parked it the night before. They knew something was wrong and called his mom.

Cathy Tenedorio and other family members reached out to local hospitals, but there was no sign of Matthew. So, they drove to a staging area in New Orleans where dozens of other anxious families awaited word on their loved ones.

“And she showed them a picture of Matthew and they said ‘yes, we have him.’”

Matthew Tenedorio's family visits a memorial for victims on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. (Left to Right) Matthew's grandmother Jane Colgan, his uncle Will Colgan, his grandfather Edward Colgan and his mother, Cathy Tenedorio. Jan. 10, 2025.
Cathy Tenedorio
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Provided
Matthew Tenedorio's family visits a memorial for victims on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. (Left to Right) Matthew's grandmother Jane Colgan, his uncle Will Colgan, his grandfather Edward Colgan and his mother, Cathy Tenedorio. Jan. 10, 2025.

Police escorted Matthew’s body to Slidell where he was laid to rest this weekend.

Foushee says an autopsy shows Matthew was shot in his left leg, near the femoral artery. But he died from blunt force trauma to the head.

How did that trauma happen? Did Matthew fall or was he struck? And, who shot him, the police or the suspect?

Then, there’s the question so many want answered. Why were steel bollards, meant to block Bourbon Street and protect pedestrians, not working New Year’s Eve?

Bourbon Street in New Orleans blocked off by a large truck where steel bollards are supposed to stand. Jan. 10, 2025.
Cathy Terendorio
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Provided
Bourbon Street in New Orleans blocked off by a large truck where steel bollards are supposed to stand. Jan. 10, 2025.

Several of the victims’ families, including those who survived, filed a lawsuit last week claiming the city and two contractors failed to protect people.

Tenedorio’s family is not involved in the suit, but his mother sent South Carolina Public Radio pictures from Bourbon Street Friday that show a large truck blocking the road instead of barricades. Cathy Tenedorio also shared photos of a growing, makeshift memorial for victims, including her son.

“I don't know if they'll ever get the answers that they're hoping to have,” says Foushee. “But the answers also don't change anything, you know?

Matthew Tenedorio is gone.

Foushee says he’d recently gotten a job at the Superdome in New Orleans, which he loved, and had a laugh that could lighten any room.

Matthew is survived by a big family, including his parents and grandparents. Foushee says they’re finding strength in their deep faith.

She’s inspired by their grace, as she tries to assure her own children, and herself, they are safe.

“I cannot imagine burying a child. I mean, no mother, right? No mother can ever put themselves in that place,” says Foushee.

But it’s happened, yet again. A stranger has stolen lives in a violent mass attack, just hours into the new year.

Victoria Hansen is our Lowcountry connection covering the Charleston community, a city she knows well. She grew up in newspaper newsrooms and has worked as a broadcast journalist for more than 20 years. Her first reporting job brought her to Charleston where she covered local and national stories like the Susan Smith murder trial and the arrival of the Citadel’s first female cadet.