Howard University community devastated after two students die days before graduation

A group is grieving after two college students set to graduate from Howard College subsequent week have died.

Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder shared the unlucky information on Threads that her son, 21-year-old Sollomon Buckhanon Crowder, had been discovered by the murder unit of the D.C. police.

“An investigation is forthcoming,” Stephanie Crowder wrote. “Our ache is grossly profound.”

Sollomon, a Laptop Science main, was reported lacking on Tuesday (Apr. 28) together with his final recognized whereabouts being the Blackburn Heart. Stephanie put out an pressing plea on social media on Thursday, asking anybody for assist discovering her son, as Howard police and D.C. police have been already investigating the case. On Friday morning, she shared the devastating replace, prompting an outpouring of condolences from people who noticed the story on their feeds and hoped for a extra constructive consequence.

He was set to graduate from Howard subsequent week. A explanation for loss of life has but to be decided.

“That is heartbreaking,” Melech Thomas wrote on X. “His mother and father are colleagues in ministry and associates of mine. How devastating that is for the Crowder household and for the Howard College group. Praying for them, as effectively for our alma mater.”

The information of Sollomon’s loss of life comes as Howard grapples with one other loss from its 2026 graduating class.

Hours after Sollomon’s mom revealed her tragic replace, Howard’s Graduate Faculty introduced that Dr. Jimisha Relerford, who was days away from accepting her doctorate in philosophy, had handed away. No explanation for loss of life was talked about.

“It’s with large disappointment that the Graduate Faculty at Howard College proclaims the passing of Dr. Jimisha Iman Relerford, Class of 2026,” the group wrote on Threads. “Jimisha was a devoted scholar of African diaspora literature, African American rhetorics, and Black girls’s writing, humor, and satire. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Classics from Howard College and her Grasp of Arts in English with a focus in Rhetoric and Composition from Georgia State College. She returned to Howard as a first-year writing teacher and doctoral pupil within the Division of English. In each instances, she served her educational group with distinction.”

The group added, “In recognition of her scholarly achievement and contributions to the sphere, she shall be posthumously awarded the Physician of Philosophy diploma on Might 10, 2026. Dr. Relerford’s mental contributions, dedication to her college students, and repair to the college group depart an enduring legacy. She shall be deeply missed by colleagues, college students, and all who had the privilege of realizing her.”