We continue to hear more about individuals who died in the devastating plane crash over the Potomac River in Washington DC. This includes individuals who passed away in that accident.
Included among those who lost their lives is a 32-year-old civil rights attorney who also was a former Miss Kansas contestant. Kiah Duggins was confirmed as a victim on board the American Airlines flight that crashed on Wednesday, January 29.
Reports say that she was traveling to Washington DC after visiting Kansas to support her mother during surgery. Loved ones remember her as somebody who was both compassionate and courageous.
Duggins left behind a legacy of advocacy. She was very interested in the pursuit of justice.
On the Civil Rights Corps website, her profile states that she had graduated from Wichita East High School and Wichita State University. She then went on to Harvard Law School to earn her law degree. At the time of her passing, she was serving as the president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.
Her responsibilities included litigating cases to support social justice movements. She also was challenging unconstitutional policy, mostly associated with money bail practices in Tennessee, Washington DC, and Texas.
She also was actively involved with the ACLU of Northern California, focusing on police misconduct and injustices within the criminal rights system.
Many people, including family members and friends, shared tributes online. This includes one of her classmates, Anna Bauer.
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.I hope you’ll read about her work and the causes she cared about, some of which I’ll 🧵 below.What an immense loss
— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) 2025-01-31T04:12:45.032Z
A Facebook tribute post also remembered her as a pageant queen.
May she rest in peace.
