Howard University professor among victims in midair collision

A Howard University prof and former Miss Kansas contestant known for her agleam grin and zest for beingness was among the victims successful Wednesday’s midair collision betwixt an Army chopper and an American Airlines level adjacent Reagan National Airport.

Kiah Duggins, 30, was named arsenic a unfortunate successful the catastrophe by Howard University President Ben Vinson III, who called for privateness and respect for her family, students, and colleagues during this hard time.

In a statement, the assemblage said Duggins was acceptable to statesman a caller section arsenic a prof astatine Howard University School of Law this fall.

Kiah Duggins was known for her agleam grin and zest for life. (Howard University)

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"As a civilian rights lawyer, she dedicated her vocation to warring against unconstitutional policing and unjust wealth bail practices successful Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C.," the connection reads. "Plans to grant her bequest volition beryllium shared successful coming days."

Duggins was besides a civil rights lawyer with the non-profit Civil Rights Corps, based successful Washington D.C.

The group’s website says she worked with the ACLU of Northern California and with Neufeld, Scheck and Brustin LLP to "challenge constabulary misconduct and different harms of the transgression ineligible system" earlier coming to the Civil Rights Corps. She studied the situation concern analyzable abolition and lawyering question arsenic a Law For Black Lives fellow, a Black liberation group.

She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, wherever she served arsenic the president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. Before that, she earned a bachelor’s grade from Wichita State University and completed a Fulbright assistance successful Taiwan, according to the Civil Rights Corps.

Emergency effect units respond to the clang tract of an American Airlines level and Black Hawk chopper connected the Potomac River successful Arlington, Virginia connected Thursday. Duggins was 1 of 67 radical to suffer their lives successful the disaster. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

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Larry Strong, who was Duggins’ section pageant manager erstwhile she competed for Miss Kansas and Miss Butler County, told KBTX that Duggins had "such a agleam aboriginal ahead."

In a Facebook post, helium described her arsenic "Miss Butler County 2014, 2015."

"Kiah was a apical 10 finalist successful 2014 and 2015 astatine the Miss Kansas Pageant. She was preparing to beryllium a instrumentality prof astatine Howard University successful the fall. Keep her household successful your thoughts and prayers during this hard time."

Annie Montgomery, curate of Tabernacle Bible Church successful Wichita, told KMUW that she volition retrieve Duggins for her agleam grin and her zest for life.

"Kiah was the astir beauteous young woman wrong and out," Montgomery said. "She was adventurous. She made friends truthful easily. She had the benignant of property that you conscionable could not resist."

Part of the wreckage is seen arsenic rescue boats hunt the waters of the Potomac River aft a level connected attack to Reagan National Airport collided with a chopper and crashed into the stream adjacent Washington, D.C., connected Jan. 30, 2025. Duggins was 1 of 67 radical to suffer their lives successful the disaster. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Lacey Cruse, a erstwhile Sedgwick County commissioner, described Duggins arsenic "a brave and beauteous soul, a airy successful the combat for civilian rights."

"Her nonaccomplishment is heartbreaking, not lone for her household and friends but for everyone who believes successful justness and equality," she wrote connected Facebook. "May her work, her message, and her tone proceed to animate and make change. Gone excessively soon but ne'er forgotten."

Duggins was 1 of 67 radical to suffer their lives successful the disaster. The origin of the collision is being investigated.