Kevin Dave, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) officer who killed 23-year-old Andhra student Jaahnavi Kandula in January 2023, has been fired, reports say. The Seattle Times says that Dave’s termination from his post was communicated to other SPD officers in an internal email. Jaahnavi was killed after Dave, who had been overspeeding, hit her with his car while responding to a drug overdose call. US activists had pointed out at the time that Dave had been a mere three minutes from his destination and had had no reason to overspeed.
According to The Seattle Times, SPD interim police chief Sue Rahr reportedly said in the internal email: “I believe the officer did not intend to hurt anyone that night and that he was trying to get to a possible overdose victim as quickly as possible. However, I cannot accept the tragic consequences of his dangerous driving. His positive intent does not mitigate the poor decision that caused the loss of a human life and brought discredit to the Seattle Police Department.”
The fatal accident occurred on January 23, 2023 when Jaahnavi was crossing a street. Dave was travelling at 119 kmph, exceeding the speed limit significantly. The impact of the collision propelled Jaahnavi approximately 100 feet.
However, in February 2024, the King County Prosecutor’s Office had decided not to pursue criminal charges against Dave, saying there was “insufficient evidence”.
Jaahnavi’s death had sparked further outrage after the release of body-cam footage from Dave’s fellow officer Daniel Auderer. In the video, Auderer can be observed laughingly telling a superior officer over a phone call that Jaahnavi had “limited value”. Auderer, at the time, was the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (SPOG) — a police union. He had been briefing the SPOG’s president Mike Solan regarding the accident.
Following Jaahnavi’s death, the police watchdog group Divest SPD had highlighted that Auderer had already been investigated 18 times by the Office of Public Accountability (OPA) on multiple counts of abusive behaviour, including severely assaulting a mentally ill man to the point of causing permanent brain damage.
Auderer was fired in July 2024 for “unprofessionalism”, but the SPD had at the time denied any racial bias. Neither Dave nor Auderer have faced criminal action so far for Jaahnavi’s death.
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