Kiah Duggins, Civil Rights Attorney and Former Miss Kansas Contestant, Killed in D.C. Plane Crash: 'Beautiful Soul'
Kiah Duggins, a 30-year-old civil rights lawyer and former Miss Kansas contestant has been confirmed as one of the victims in the American Airlines crash that occurred on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Duggins was returning to Washington, D.C., after visiting Kansas to be with her mother during a surgical procedure.
Friends and family remember Duggins as a "brave and beautiful" soul who dedicated her life to fighting for justice.
Among the 64 people on board the American Airlines flight, which crashed into a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter on Wednesday, Jan. 29, was 30-year-old civil rights attorney and former Miss Kansas contestant Kiah Duggins.
Several of Duggins' family and friends identified her on social media as having been one of the passengers lost on the tragic flight. Her family told NPR affiliate KMUW that she had been flying back to Washington, D.C., where she worked as an attorney for the Civil Rights Corps, after spending some time in Wichita, Kan. to support her mother, who was going through a surgical procedure.
'We are coming to terms with the grief associated with the loss of our beautiful and accomplished firstborn. Please respect our family's privacy at this time,' her father Maurice Duggins said in a statement to the outlet.
Duggins graduated from Wichita East High School and Wichita State University before going on to earn a degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, according to her profile on the Civil Rights Corps website.
Related: American Airlines Plane Crashes into Potomac River After Black Hawk Helicopter Collision: Live Updates
In her job, she litigated 'on behalf of movements' and challenged 'unconstitutional policing and money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C.' She also previously worked with the ACLU of Northern California and challenged 'police misconduct and other harms of the criminal legal system.'
Several of the civil rights attorney's friends paid tribute to her online, including Anna Bower, who wrote on Blue Sky : 'I'm sad to learn that my law school classmate, Kiah Duggins, died in the DC plane crash last night. Kiah was an exceptionally talented civil rights lawyer and aspiring legal scholar.'
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Another friend, former Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse, described Duggins' death as 'devastating,' adding on Facebook, 'She was a brave and beautiful soul, a light in the fight for civil rights. Her loss is heartbreaking, not only for her family and friends but for everyone who believes in justice and equality.'
'May her work, her message, and her spirit continue to inspire and create change. Gone too soon but never forgotten,' she concluded her message.
However, Duggins not only tried to change the world through the legal system, but through her pageant work as well. She previously competed in the Miss Butler County 2014-2015 pageant, where she placed in the top 10, Larry E Strong shared on Facebook.
Related: Man Lost His Wife and Daughter, Who Survived Cancer as 4-Month-Old, in American Airlines Crash: 'She Was Such a Fighter'
Strong wrote in his post that she 'was preparing to be a law professor' at Howard University — a private, historically Black research university in Washington — 'in the fall.'
'[She had] such a bright future ahead, such a bright future ahead,' Strong told CBS affiliate KWCH-TV. 'I know this is a difficult time for [Duggins' family] and they're in my thoughts and prayers.'
There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the jet, according to a statement from American Airlines. There were also three soldiers on board the Black Hawk helicopter, a U.S. Army official confirmed to CNN.
During a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30, Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said that 'at this point we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident,' and they were switching from a 'search and rescue operation' for the passengers on both flights to a 'recovery' operation.
Also among those on the American Airlines flight were several members' of the U.S. Figure Skating team. This included 1994 pairs figure skating world champions and coaches Evgenia Shishkova, 52, and Vadim Naumov, 55, and figure-skating sisters Everly and Alydia Livingston, 14 and 11, according to reports.
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