Midwin Charles Dies: Legal Analyst Remembered By NYC Mayor, CNN’s Don Lemon, MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, ‘The View’ Host Sunny Hostin, Others – Update

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UPDATED with reactions: Legal analyst Midwin Charles, familiar to viewers for her frequent appearances on CNN, MSNBC, HLN and Bloomberg TV, died Tuesday. She was 47.

Her death was announced by her family on social media. A cause of death and other details were not specified.

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“It is with a profoundly heavy heart and the deepest sadness that we announce the untimely passing of our beloved Midwin Charles,” her family said in a Twitter statement. “She was known to many as a legal commentator on television, but to us she was a devoted daughter, sister, aunt, niece and cousin. Our lives are forever changed and we will miss her for a lifetime.”

“Beyond saddened to learn of the passing of Midwin Charles,” tweeted MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart. “What a terrific analyst and a kind soul. May she rest in peace.”

“I am DEVASTATED!,” tweeted Maya Wiley, formerly of MSNBC and currently a New York City mayoral candidate. “Midwin Charles is someone I am deeply grateful to for her heart and her head. And she was someone I valued at MSNBC! My heart goes out to her family and we have all lost a Sister.”

Stephanie Ruhle paid tribute to Charles on MSNBC.

Charles was the founder of law firm Midwin Charles & Associates LLC, a contributor at Essence Magazine and and she provided regular commentary on law, pop culture and politics for CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV and TV One. She earned her law degree at American University, Washington College of Law, and later served as a law clerk for U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit Judge Eric L. Clay and as the A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Research Fellow in Social Justice at Harvard Law School.

“Midwin dear heart,” tweeted MSNBC host Joy Reid last night, “you were a brilliant spirit and beautiful soul. You were such a blessing. I’m just stunned, and have been since I learned of this today. Blessings to your mom and family. To all, please live every moment like it’s your last, and OVER-appreciate your friends.”

A sampling of reactions to Charles’ death follows:

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