By Davan 
Nicole Perez, a 27-year-old mother from Metairie, Louisiana, has been confirmed as a victim of the New Orleans attack.
During an interview on the Today show Thursday, Jan. 2, Nicole’s mother Martha Perez tearfully spoke about her daughter’s death.
“I love her and now she’s gone and never coming back,” she said.
Martha also said she had no idea how she was going to break the tragedy to Nicole’s 5-year-old son, Melo (Melvin): “Her baby, what am I supposed to tell him? I don’t know how I can explain it to him.”
Kimberley Usher-Fall, Nicole’s manager and friend, told ABC News that she was a “great mother” who had recently been promoted at the deli where she worked.
“She just was a really exciting little young lady,” she added, sharing that Nicole would often bring Melo to the deli, where she would help him learn how to read.
Usher-Fall said Nicole was out with her friends for New Year’s Eve when she was struck by the truck on Bourbon Street, per ABC News. She was taken to University Hospital in the city but succumbed to her injuries.
“It’s not been a good day for the family,” Usher-Fall told New Orleans local news outlet NOLA.com.
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The deli manager has also set up a GoFundMe for Nicole with the aim of raising $50,000 for her son, as well as burial expenses. On the page, Usher-Fall referred to Nicole as “so beautiful and full of life.”
She also noted, “Her son Melo is now without his momma, and we are without our friend and dedicated employee. I’m hoping to get some help for her burial expenses and to help her son with expenses he will need to transition into a new living situation.”
The death toll in the attack has now risen to at least 15 people, the FBI announced on Jan. 1.
The deceased suspect has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, the FBI said in a news release. The FBI also confirmed the presence of an apparent ISIS flag in the Ford pickup truck used in the attack.