Candis King would have turned a year older this month.
The Colgan High School 10th-grader died Oct. 4, 2025, of complications of sickle cell disease. Prince William County Public Schools confirmed her death the next day. Principal Tim Healey told Colgan families in a letter that counseling would be available that week. Potomac Local reported the death Oct. 5, 2025.
Her father, Joshua King, is now asking neighbors to give blood and to walk in her name.
The Queen Candace Hope for Sickle Cell Act carries her name. King told Prince William supervisors his daughter was 15 and a county resident. He said her birthday is Sept. 20. His wife, Candi Mundon King — then a member of the House of Delegates representing parts of Prince William and Stafford — could not attend the proclamation. The couple have three children.
“We cry every day,” Joshua King said.
He asked people to come to a walk Saturday, Sept. 26, at Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School, to donate blood, and to keep the family in prayer.
September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month in Prince William County. Supervisors adopted a proclamation that says more than 100,000 people in the United States live with the disease. It says the illness falls most heavily on people of African descent and also affects people of Hispanic, South Asian, Southern European, and Middle Eastern ancestry. The text calls for trait testing and notes that many patients need recurring transfusions.
A coalition speaker told the board Prince William ranks among the top three Virginia localities for sickle-cell births. That ranking was stated from the dais and is not independently confirmed here.
Coalition remarks also remembered Clarissa Pearson, who died in 2021. Coalition partners named at the meeting included Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, the Delta Sigma Theta Prince William County Alumni Chapter, and the Top Ladies of Distinction Dale City/Prince William chapter. Speakers pointed to purple bilingual Heart of Gold bags used in outreach.
Neabsco Supervisor Victor S. Angry, the board’s vice chair, said he carries the sickle-cell trait. He said the Army tested him and his wife when they married 36 years ago. Their son and daughter are healthy, he said, because his wife is not a trait carrier.
Angry said he cannot give whole blood. He cited a national Red Cross shortage and asked residents who can donate to give blood or platelets.
In the weeks before Candis died last fall, her mother described her as a “sickle cell warrior” who had spent much of Awareness Month in and out of hospitals. “SC continues to find new ways to inflict pain upon my baby. Indescribable pain,” she wrote. “But she is strong, and so is her mama.”
The walk is Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Colgan High School, 13833 Dumfries Road.
Related:
https://www.potomaclocal.com/2026/08/06/candis-king-memorial-walk-set-for-september/
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