Kiah Duggins, a 30-year-old civil rights lawyer and former Miss Kansas contestant, was among the many 64 individuals aboard the American Airways Flight 5342 that crashed right into a U.S. Military Black Hawk Helicopter on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Duggins’ household confirmed on Thursday that she was among the many victims of the tragic incident.
In response to NPR affiliate KMUW, the Wichita State College alum was on her method again to Washington, D.C., after spending time along with her mom, who not too long ago had a surgical process.
“We are coming to terms with the grief associated with the loss of our beautiful and accomplished firstborn,” Her father, Maurice Duggins, mentioned in a press release obtained by the outlet. He additionally urged the general public to respect their household’s privateness.
Duggins graduated from the Worldwide Baccalaureate program at Wichita East Excessive Faculty after which later attended Wichita State College as a Clay Barton Scholar. She later obtained a level from Harvard Regulation, the place she served as president of the Harvard Authorized Help Bureau. Whereas at Wichita State, she was additionally a White Home intern below the management of former first girl Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative. Duggins was a high 10 finalist within the Miss Kansas pageant in 2014 and 2015, in line with a Fb submit from a pageant official.
She labored as an legal professional for the Civil Rights Corps, a nonprofit centered on addressing injustice within the authorized system, the place she built-in her research of abolishing the jail industrial advanced. Duggins was additionally set to begin instructing at Howard College’s regulation faculty within the fall.
“It is with profound sadness that the Howard University community and the Howard University School of Law have learned of the passing of Professor Kiah Duggins, who was among those lost in the midair plane collision at Reagan National Airport,” Howard College President Ben Vinson III mentioned in a press release on X, previously Twitter.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS by way of Getty Photos
Duggins’ regulation faculty classmate Anna Bower remembered her as an “exceptionally talented civil rights lawyer and aspiring legal scholar” in a submit on Bluesky. Good friend and former Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse additionally remembered Duggins in an emotional Fb submit.
“She was a brave and beautiful soul, a light in the fight for civil rights,” Cruse wrote. “Her loss is heartbreaking, not only for her family and friends but for everyone who believes in justice and equality.”
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As of Jan. 30, 28 our bodies had been recovered from the Potomac River, which borders the airport. In response to The Related Press, three Military troopers who had been within the helicopter had been recovered from the wreckage.
