SEATTLE — A wrongful death lawsuit over the death of Summer Taylor, a protestor who was struck and killed by a car on Interstate 5 in July of 2020, is expected to begin with opening statements in Seattle on Monday.
Taylor was protesting against police brutality on a section of I-5 in downtown Seattle on July 4, 2020, when a motorist who had accessed a closed portion of the roadway ran into the group, striking Taylor and another person, Diaz Love.
Taylor was taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition, and they died later on that night. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Dawit Kelete, who was 27 at the time, was later charged with vehicular homicide related to Taylor's death. Investigators determined that he was high on methamphetamines at the time of the collision. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to over six years in prison in 2023.
According to the Washington State Patrol, Kelete drove the wrong way onto I-5 using an off-ramp, avoiding a road closure that was put in place to protect protesters.
The lawsuit, which names the state of Washington as a defendant, notes that the Washington State Patrol parked their vehicles in front of on-ramps, but not off-ramps in the area of the closure, leaving some entry points onto the freeway unsecured. Attorneys representing the family of Summer Taylor also argued that the state could have prohibited protests on the freeway but didn't.
"Unguarded ramps provided direct access to the freeway by drivers who either intentionally sought to run into the protesters, or drivers who might be impaired or otherwise driving negligently," the lawsuit reads.
Washington State Patrol Capt. Ron Mead noted at the time that the agency did not anticipate a vehicle using an off-ramp to reach protesters on I-5, and acknowledged, "the only truly safe way of protecting protestors is to deny them access to the freeway in the first place."
After Taylor's death, WSP advised that they would no longer be allowing protests on I-5, and anyone who attempted to do so would be arrested.
The state sought to dismiss the lawsuit, but that motion was denied by a judge in late July.
"This was a terrible tragedy that was preventable,” said Karen Koehler, the attorney representing the Taylor family.
Koehler points to the state patrol's actions four years ago.
"The Chief of WSP announced that they were going to make these changes because George Floyd was murdered and the nation was in shock and mourning and protest,” said Koehler. "The freeway was converted from a zone where traffic went back and forth to a protest zone and that decision was made by the state."
Koehler added that in less than a month's time, protests closed the freeway at least 15 different occasions.
Steve Puz, Senior Counsel for the Attorney General’s Office, said the Washington State Patrol was in a difficult position after protesters walked onto I-5 and into traffic on June 15, 2020.
"They had just been told the protesters are going to come back every day and endanger the lives of motorists on the freeway as well as their own lives and on the other hand their typical process of dealing with it, arresting them, was off the table,” said Puz.
COVID-19 concerns at the time led to jail restrictions, and WSP was told protesters would not be admitted, according to Puz.
"The negligence here is shared by Mr. Kelete and the state of Washington,” Koehler told jurors.
The state argues that only Kelete should be held responsible.
"It was his car, his action that killed Mx. Taylor,” Puz said.
Kelete was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison. Puz said jurors will hear from Kelete via Zoom or in a taped statement during the civil trial.