Shamsud Din Jabbar had a turbulent love life in the years leading up to his deadly rampage that saw him plough into a crowd of New Years revellers on a party street
The suspected terrorist who brutally killed 15, and injured 35 more, by driving an SUV down a packed party street on New Years Day had a turbulent love life. Shamsud Din Jabbar was divorced three times before he became radicalised and joined ISIS.
The US army veteran, who also shot pedestrians after his white truck crashed, seemed to be a normal America until a few years before his rampage. He served a 13 years in the military, started a real estate business and worked for Deloitte.
The 42-year-old was also married and divorced three times before he joined ISIS around summer 2024. He also had children from two of these relationships.
Nakedra ‘Nikki’ Charrlle Ball was Jabbar’s first wife, who he started dating shortly before he first enlisted in the army. The pair got married on June 25, 2008. It is understood the former couple, who had two children, were in contact until quite recently, reports the Daily Mail.
The marriage did not take long to collapse as they were divorced in 2012. Jabbar was ordered to pay child support, which reportedly amounted to $2,200 a month on top of medical insurance.
Jabbar had moved on to his next romance with Tiera Symone Whitfield before his divorce with Nakedra had concluded. It isn’t clear where they first met, as Tiera lived across the country in Georgia, but it seems likely they met when he was at the NCO Academy at Fort Gordon in Augusta, which is just outside Tiera’s hometown.
Jabber married Tiera in 2013 – just one year after he finalised his divorce with Nakedra. The former couple never had children but it is understood Tiera suffered a miscarriage at six months pregnant.
Jabbar left active duty in the military during this relationship in January 2015 and joined the army reserves as an information technology operations manager. This is when he started to study his bachelor’s degree in business administration for computer information systems at Georgia State University.
This marriage didn’t last long either – with Jabbar filing for divorce in February 2016. On the legal papers, he claimed the marriage was ‘irretrievably broken’.
After finishing his degree in November 2017, Jabbar moved back to his native Taxas and founded his real estate business, Blue Meadow Properties. It was long before moving home that his next romance with Shaneen Chanti McDaniel blossomed.
The couple got hitched on November 15, 2017 in Fresno, Texas, where Jabbar bought a four-bedroom family home that same year. The couple had one son together the year after the wedding.
The third time did not prove to be the charm as Jabbar filed for divorce on July 17, 2020. He said the marraige was ‘insupportable due to discord or conflict of personalities’.
With his finances in ruins from three divorces and an underperforming business, Jabbar moved into a mobile home surronded by farm animals in Houston. His landlord reportedly said he paid his rent on time in cash every month and never caused any trouble.
In videos recorded in the hours before he launched his deadly rampage in New Orleans, Jabbar said he joined ISIS before the summer of 2024.
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