The woman who leaped to her death from a Midtown high-rise Sunday was former Miss USA 2019, Cheslie Kryst. She was 30.
Shortly before she jumped, Kryst posted on her Instagram page, “May this day bring you rest and peace.”
Kryst, a former Miss North Carolina, won top honors at the 2019 Miss USA pageant, wearing a sparkly winged outfit for the National Costume competition, a nod to Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
Below are 15 things women should know about the late Miss USA 2019:
1. Kryst was born on April 28, 1991, in Jackson, Michigan, to a Polish American father and an African American mother. She had four brothers, Asa, Chandler, Jet, and Brooklyn, and a sister, Page.
2. Her mother, April Simpkins, competed in pageantry and was crowned Mrs. North Carolina US when Kryst was a child.
3. Her family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and later settled in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where Kryst attended Northwestern High School. Her family later moved to Fort Mill, South Carolina and Kryst transferred to Fort Mill High School, graduating in 2009.
4. After graduating from high school, Kryst moved to Columbia, South Carolina to attend the Honors College at the University of South Carolina.
5. She graduated from the Darla Moore School of Business with a degree in Marketing and Human Resource Management in 2013 where she was also a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta honor society, Gamecocks women’s track and field team, and mock trial.
6. After finishing her undergraduate degree, Kryst enrolled in Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Sale., north Carolina, graduating with a Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration in 2017.
7. Following her graduation, Kryst became licensed to practice law in both North Carolina and South Carolina and began working as an attorney at Poyner Spruill LLP, practicing complex civil litigation. She also worked pro bono for clients who were low-level drug offenders, including her work with Brittany K. Barnett of the Buried Alive Project, to free a client sentenced to life imprisonment.
8. She was the founder of the fashion blog White Collar Glam, dedicated to helping women dress professionally in white collar jobs.
9. Kryst began her pageantry career as a teenager, winning Miss Freshman at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina and later Miss Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
10. In 2016, Kryst competed in Miss North Carolina USA 2017, where she placed as the fourth runner-up. She returned the following year and placed in the top ten, before returning again for Miss North Carolina USA 2019, where she won the title, representing Metrolina.
11. As Miss USA, she represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2019 competition and finished in the top ten.
12. At 28 years and 4 days, Kryst became the oldest woman to be crowned Miss USA, breaking the previous record held by Nana Meriwether who was 27 years, 6 months, and 26 days old upon assuming the title.
13. Kryst’s reign was originally scheduled to end on spring 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she became the longest reigning Miss USA titleholder on June 5, 2020. Her reign ended with a total of 557 days on November 9, 2020.
14. In October 2019, Kryst became a New York correspondent for Extra, after serving as a special correspondent in September 2019.
15. In 2020, Kryst received a nomination for Outstanding Entertainment News Program at the 47th Daytime Emmy Awards due to her position as a New York correspondent for Extra.
She died on January 30, 2022, in New York City, after jumping from her high-rise apartment building in Midtown Manhattan. She left a suicide note leaving her belongings to her mother.
