SEATTLE — The King County Prosecutor's Office said in a release on Wednesday no criminal charges will be filed against the Seattle police officer who struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula in January 2023.
Kandula was struck and killed by Seattle officer Kevin Dave on Jan. 23, 2023, while she was in a crosswalk in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood.
Dave was responding to an emergency call and was in a 25-mile-per-hour zone at the time of the collision. Kandula had the right of way and was struck by the cruiser at approximately 63 miles per hour, according to a report released in June 2023.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said her office walked through the report with Kandula's family on Wednesday morning. Prosecutors said they lacked sufficient evidence under Washington state law to file criminal charges against Dave.
“Ms. Kandula’s death is heartbreaking and impacted communities in King County and across the world," Manion said in a statement. "It is the responsibility of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (PAO) to review all available evidence relating to the case involving Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave and the January 2023 collision death of Jaahnavi Kandula. After staffing this case with senior deputy prosecuting attorneys and office leadership, I have determined that we lack sufficient evidence under Washington State law to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt."
A report found that speed was the cause of the collision, as the speed at which Dave was traveling did "not allow [Kandula] or him sufficient time to detect, address and avoid a hazard that presented itself," the report stated.
Dave was responding to a "priority one" call at the request of the Seattle Fire Department, according to the Seattle Police Department. According to the report, the officer was responding to a report of a drug overdose.
According to the report, the officer did not have his siren activated continuously. Instead, the officer "chirped" his siren at the intersection. He did have his emergency lights on, according to a previous statement from the police department.
At the time of the collision, Kandula was wearing a black jacket, black pants and white shoes. She may have had Apple AirPods in both ears, according to the report. Investigators were unable to determine what mode the AirPods were in - if they were worn at the time of the collision. She was about 18 feet into the crosswalk when she was hit, according to the report.
As the officer approached the point where the collision happened, it "appeared he attempted to avoid the collision by steering and braking," according to the report. However the report goes on to say steering input "was slight and rapid," and ultimately didn't change the path of the vehicle. Officials said the officer applied breaks before the collision but was not enough to avoid the collision due to the speed.
In a memo to Seattle police, prosecutors wrote there wasn't enough evidence to prove Dave showed "conscious disregard for others safety."
A drug recognition expert responded to the scene and found no impairment in the officer.
In body camera footage released after Kandula was killed, Seattle officer Daniel Auderer, who was not involved in the January collision, was captured in the video saying, "but she is dead" and laughing while on the phone.
"She was 26 anyway," Auderer said in the video. "She had limited value."
In the statement on Wednesday, Manion said the prosecutor's office found Auderer's comments "deeply troubling" but it does not change the case against Dave.
"Officer Auderer’s comments were also unprofessional and served to undermine the public’s trust in the Seattle Police Department and law enforcement in general," Manion said. "As egregious as Officer Auderer’s comments are, they do not change the PAO’s legal analysis into the conduct of Officer Dave. It is the Office of Police Accountability that bears the responsibility of disciplinary investigation and proceedings relating to Officer Auderer’s comment, not the PAO.”
Auderer could still be fired after the fallout of his insensitive comments captured on bodycam.
Auderer's chain of command and the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) found he acted unprofessionally. For that, he faces the highest disciplinary range of nearly two weeks suspension up to termination, according to a disciplinary action report.
OPA found Auderer engaged in bias-based policing due to a comment he made about Kandula's age. The chain of command disagreed with that finding.
Prior to a final disciplinary decision, Auderer will have the chance to meet with Police Chief Adrian Diaz to disagree.
His disciplinary hearing is scheduled for March 4.
After the bodycam video was brought to light, Auderer wrote a letter to OPA where he explained he was not making fun of the death but instead mocking the callousness of the legal system.
Auderer was previously "administratively re-assigned to a non-operational position."
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco called the handling of Kandula's death "deeply troubling."
Northeastern University, where Kandula was studying as a graduate student at the Seattle campus, said in January the university would award her degree posthumously and present it to her family.