BATON ROUGE - Two capital area families are spending the New Year's holiday remembering their loved ones, one year after the terrorist attack in New Orleans.

In the early hours of Jan. 1, 2025, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pickup truck through Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.

For Malik Badawi, New Year's Day marks the last time his cousin Kareem Badawi bid him goodbye.

"I saw him that night. We were all together with a bunch of my friends, a bunch of his friends. I wanted to leave. It was getting late, and I didn't feel like saying bye to everyone. I kind of started to walk out. Out of everybody, he's the one that saw me and said, 'Hey, you can't leave without saying goodbye,'" he said.

18-year-old Kareem Badawi, a graduate from Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, was among those killed.

"The pain we're going through, the grief we're going through every day? That should not happen to anybody," Kareem's Father, Belal Badawi said.

Kareem's brother Omar Badawi remembered his smile and kind heart.

"He had like this contagious laugh, you know? Every time we'd laugh, me and him, we wouldn't stop," Omar Badawi said.

37-year-old Reggie Hunter also died in the attack. His son, 12-year-old Landon Hunter, said he thinks of his dad every time he laces his shoes.

"He was kind of like a sneakerhead, he passed down 30 or so shoes to me when he passed. I have his collection in my closet," Landon Hunter said. "I can wear them, but I'm starting to outgrow them."

Like the sneakers, Landon Hunter said he also wears a sense of responsibility, given to him by his dad, to leave the world better than he found it.

"He also taught me to be a bigger person, like a protector," he said.

Pictures of Reggie Hunter line the walls in his sister's home. His siblings told WBRZ they are doing what they can to keep his name alive.

"We're learning how to deal with it, trying to just remember the great things about him, and not remember the bad things," Courtney Hunter, Reggie's sister, said.

As memorials to the Bourbon Street victims come and go, the families said their loved ones have left a lasting impression on the Crescent City and far beyond.

"He came and got me and said I'll see you soon, just a funny testament to who he was. Type of guy who won't let you go without saying goodbye," Malek Badawi said.

A first-year remembrance event will be hosted at the Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church by the Governor's Office of Victim Advocacy on Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.