City of Seattle settles lawsuit over death of Jaahnavi Kandula

SPD fires officer who killed Jaahnavi Kandula with patrol car

The officer was fired nearly two years after hitting and killing Jaahnavi Kandula with his patrol car while responding to a call.

SEATTLE - The City of Seattle has settled a lawsuit with the family of Jaahnavi Kandula, a young woman who was hit and killed by a speeding Seattle police officer in Jan. 2023.

In 2024, Kandula's family filed a $110 million wrongful death, negligence and assault lawsuit against both the city and former police officer Kevin Dave, who was fired early last year.

The city reached a settlement amount of $29 million with Kandula's family, according to the Associated Press.

(File / FOX 13)

The backstory:

23-year-old Kandula was a graduate student from India studying at Northeastern University's campus in Seattle.

On Jan. 23, 2023, Dave was responding to a high-priority overdose call, and was driving 74 mph down Dexter Avenue, a street with a speed limit of 25 mph. Dave had his police lights on, but was only "chirping" his siren, rather than running it continuously.

Kandula was walking at a crosswalk on Dexter Ave and Thomas St, and appeared on dashcam video trying to hurry across the street before Dave struck her and threw her body 138 feet.

The King County Prosecutor's Office declined to file charges against Dave in Feb. 2024, believing they lacked sufficient evidence to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Seattle Police Department then referred an infraction of second-degree negligent driving to the City Attorney's Office, and Dave was fined $5,000.

Seattle police controversy following death of Jaahnavi Kandula

Local perspective:

The night of Kandula's death, then-officer Daniel Auderer was called to administer a drug recognition test to Kevin Dave, in accordance with police department policy.

Auderer was caught on body camera mid-conversation with Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) President Mike Solan, laughing and joking about Kandula, saying, "She is dead," and "Just write a check […] $11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value."

Auderer maintains he and Solan were engaging in "gallows humor," and that he was being unfairly targeted by police accountability agencies for his role as SPOG Vice President.

Then-interim Police Chief Sue Rahr fired Auderer in 2024.

What they're saying:

FOX 13 Seattle reached out to Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, who issued the following statement:

"Jaahnavi Kandula’s death was heartbreaking, and the city hopes this financial settlement brings some sense of closure to the Kandula family. We also recognize that her loss has left unimaginable pain. Jaahnavi Kandula’s life mattered. It mattered to her family, to her friends, and to our community."

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