What was supposed to be a joyful tropical escape has turned into indescribable heartbreak for Jade Jones, Tyrese Haliburton’s fiancée. A bachelorette party on St. Barthelemy Island was abruptly shattered when one of their closest lifelong friends, 26-year-old Makenzi Nichole Kern, affectionately known as Kenz, died unexpectedly.

The close-knit group of friends traveled to the French-Caribbean island earlier this month to celebrate Jones’ upcoming nuptials to the Indiana Pacers All-Star guard. What started as her documenting the early moments of the trip with the usual bachelorette fun on Instagram turned into unforeseen tragedy.

According to her obituary, Kern passed away on June 8, 2026, from “health complications” just two days after celebrating her 26th birthday.

“The family does not suspect that foul play, dr-gs, or alcohol contributed to her death,” according to TMZ.

Kern, Jones, and the rest of the gang were expected to return to the US around the time of her unexpected death.

“She was surrounded by her closest friends on a once in a lifetime trip to St. Barthelemy Island,” Kern’s obituary read. “To know Makenzi was to love her. She lived life to the fullest; she was silly, goofy and could brighten everyone’s spirits when she was around.”

Haliburton and Jones, who are college sweethearts, shared a close friendship with Kern. Long before Jones was known to the NBA fanbase, she and Kern were teammates on the Iowa State University cheerleading squad, while Haliburton was the standout athlete on the Cyclones basketball team before going pro in 2020.

It was during their shared time cheering for the Cyclones that their friendship blossomed. As Kern’s family said, “she deepened her friendships there that she maintained way beyond her days at ISU.”

Jones had been posting pictures from the trip on Instagram the entire time, all heavily featuring Kern, who was all smiles and happy. Before the unimaginable tragedy, she shared a series of group shots on her personal feed, captioning the collection, “hopped on a flight to cloud 9.”

Since the tragedy, Jones has not posted anything on social media, and neither Haliburton nor any representatives of the bridal party have issued a formal public statement.

In the obituary, friends remembered Kern having an especially joyful time on a seabob during the St. Barts trip. It was her first experience with it, and her friends had to drag her off it! Her family shared that Kern loved the water, whether in a swimming pool or at the beach.

“[Kern] talked her mom into going to the pool to go swimming in the middle of a rain storm during their trip to Disneyworld,” her family reminisced. “She was a mama’s girl those early years and could talk her into just about anything. She loved boating with her dad, water skiing.”

Kern graduated from Lewis Central High School in 2018 and earned a degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State in 2022. After college, she began her career at the YMCA of Greater Omaha as a Youth and Family Director. She then served as the Membership Director for the Armbrust branch.

“Kenz was dedicated to her job, her friends and her beloved pets; especially her cat Dusty,” her family wrote. “She never wanting to let anyone down or upset them. So much so even as a child she would let all of the kids on the playground go down the slide first saying ‘You go first, I’ll get a turn later.'”

Makenzi is survived by her mother, Teri Dietchler (David Dietchler); father, Chris Kern (Lona Smart); sister, Delani Kern (Chase Ahlers); boyfriend, Alan Dungan; step-siblings, Kyleigh (Desmond) Austin and Alex Smart; grandparents, Meerl and Karen Bever, Bonnie Waters, and Chuck Kern.