Sen. Ray Fonseca expressed his condolences following the death of Kiah Duggins, a civil rights attorney and Harvard Law School graduate, who was among 60 passengers and four crew members killed in a mid-air collision over the Potomac River on Jan. 29.
Duggins was aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to the press releas.e
A dedicated advocate for social justice, Duggins worked on legal challenges to unconstitutional policing and bail practices in Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, D.C. She had been affiliated with the ACLU of Northern California and Neufeld, Scheck and Brustin, LLP, where she focused on police misconduct cases. Earlier in her career, she interned at the White House for former First Lady Michelle Obama, the press release stated.
Her father, Dr. Maurice Duggins, a native of St. Kitts who spent his formative years in St. Thomas’ Savan community, graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School before pursuing a medical degree in Kansas. He has strong family ties in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where many of his relatives still reside, the release stated.
Fonseca urged the community to support and pray for Duggins’ extended family in the territory, including members of the Duggins, Warner, Endinbough, Pringle, Vaval, and Johnson families, as they grieve this tragic loss.
