Korean-American attorney killed in D.C. midair collision sent husband final message: ‘I love you’

Sarah Lee Best, 33, had been married for eight years when she lost her life in last week’s midair collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter over Washington, D.C.

Just before takeoff, she sent a final text message to her husband, Daniel Solomon, a professor of Classics and Mediterranean Studies at Vanderbilt University.

“I love you.”

“That was the last thing she said to me, and I’m grateful for that,” Solomon said in a phone interview on February 2. “We always told each other that if one of us were to go first, we should live without regrets and not let grief consume us. We had that same conversation just a week ago.”

Solomon described his wife as passionate and driven.

“Sarah was the most intelligent and analytical person I have ever met,” he said. “She always made time for others and put them before herself.”

Her parents, Young-Joo Kang, 65, and In-Sook Lee, 65, said they were struggling to process their grief.

“How could something like this happen?” her mother said.

Her father added, “She achieved everything she set out to do in life, so I have no regrets in that sense. But it pains me that she left so soon.”

The youngest of three sisters, Best was a standout student from an early age. She graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with degrees in neuroscience and classics before earning a law degree with top honors from the University of Pennsylvania.

“She was the youngest, but she was the most mature and well-spoken,” her father said. “When she was in seventh grade, she once saw her older sister being scolded and told me, ‘Dad, you’re a devoted Christian, but where is your love for your children?’ That moment has always stayed with me.”

Before becoming an attorney, Best spent four years teaching in public schools in Memphis and Nashville, working with underserved students. During law school, she led the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, advocating for stronger networks among Asian, Black and Hispanic students.

“She was an exceptional lawyer, but more importantly, she was the most caring and thoughtful wife and partner,” Solomon said. “She always made sure to bring joy into my life—on every special occasion, she would hand-make a card with beautiful artwork and heartfelt words.”

Over the weekend, Washington, D.C., fire officials recovered Best’s remains, but they have not yet been released to her family. After consulting with Solomon, her father agreed to have the remains cremated and split between both families for separate memorials.

Her family said Best’s surname came from her paternal grandmother’s remarriage to an American man, whose last name was passed down to her father.

BY OKCHAE KIM, YUNMI KIM, YOONJAE JUNG [jung.yoonjae@koreadaily.com]