The woman who died alongside her skydiving instructor in a freak accident in the Inland Empire last Friday has been identified.
Kayla Kieko Black, 28, was pronounced deceased at a Riverside County hospital on Sunday, her father Bill Black confirmed to KTLA.
Black and her skydiving instructor, Devrey LaRiccia Chase, also 28, were caught in a pair of “dust devils” during a routine jump in Perris on Aug. 2, Chase’s husband Freddy told KTLA.
A “dust devil” is a small, rotating column of air that picks up dust and debris from the ground on hot days; while they resemble tornadoes, they are generally considered to be harmless, except in this circumstance.
“She missed the first one, and when she maneuvered around it, she hit the second one,” Freddy Chase, who himself is a skydiver with a large social media following, said. “At that point, she was about 25 to 30 feet in the air…it sent her canopy in a downward spiral.”
With no time left to react, both Devrey and Kayla slammed into the ground. The two were rushed to a local hospital, where the former succumbed to her injuries on Friday and the latter on Sunday.
A resident of Buena Park at the time of her tragic death, Kayla had worked as a server at Niko Niko Japanese Restaurant in La Habra for nearly nine years and had recently started working at the Benihana location in Anaheim.
“She had many regulars that loved her, and she was already touching lives at Benihana, as she had an infectious personality,” Bill Black told KTLA.
Kayla’s life plans, Bill said, revolved around an RV she had bought in the hopes of renovating it and working remotely while living “wherever she wanted to go.”
“I know it’s not glamorous but that was her dream,” he said. “She loved to venture out and try different activities, such as skydiving…this tragic accident was her second.”
Unbeknownst to her family, Kayla, a graduate of Sonora High School in La Habra, had signed herself up to be an organ donor, Bill said.
A GoFundMe started to help the family with funeral costs stated that Kayla’s organ donation decision helps family and friends “find solace” in knowing that she is providing hope and new beginnings for individuals in need, even after she died.
A link to donate to the fundraiser can be found here.
