A Seattle police officer who killed an Indian student by hitting her with his patrol car has been fired. Officer Kevin Dave lost his job on January 6, 2025, almost two years after the crash that killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula.
As per The Hindu, Kandula was a student from Andhra Pradesh studying at Northeastern University in Seattle. On January 23, 2023, she was crossing the street in a crosswalk when Dave’s police car hit her. Dave was rushing to help someone who had overdosed on drugs. The speed limit on that street was 25 mph, but Dave was going 74 mph. The crash threw Kandula’s body almost 140 feet. She died from her injuries that same night.
The case became big news around the world when video footage showed another Seattle police officer, Daniel Auderer, laughing about Kandula’s death. In the recording, Auderer said “she is dead” and then laughed. He then said shocking things like the city should “just write a check” for $11,000. He also said Kandula “was 26 anyway” and “had limited value.” Auderer had gone to the crash site to check if Dave was drunk or on drugs. He was fired in July 2024 because of what he said.
What took them so long to fire this guy?
Seattle’s acting police chief Sue Rahr told department workers in an email that Dave was fired. She said the Seattle Office of Police Accountability found that Dave broke four department rules. He did not use his emergency lights the right way and did not drive his police car safely. Rahr said that while Dave probably “did not intend to hurt anyone that night,” good intentions did not make up for “the poor decision that caused the loss of human life.”
Prosecutors in King County decided in February 2024 not to charge Dave with a crime. They said there was not enough proof that he knew he was being unsafe. The Seattle City Attorney’s Office gave Dave a $5,000 ticket for careless driving. Dave agreed to pay the money, take an eight-hour driving safety class, and do 40 hours of community service.
Disturbing bodycam footage from January 2023 shows Officer Daniel Auderer laughing after graduate student Jaahnavi Kandula was fatally hit by another officer responding to a call. Auderer was later fired as a result of the incident. pic.twitter.com/Raoi9E1228
— Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) September 23, 2024
Dave kept getting his police salary for almost two years after killing Kandula. He got his full pay and extra bonuses during this time. Investigation files showed that Dave hit his brakes for less than one second before hitting Kandula. He was still going about 63 mph when he hit her. He had his emergency lights on but did not use his siren the whole time. He only made a quick siren sound at the crossing. The slow response in this case is like other times when people only got in trouble after everyone complained.
Kandula’s family sued the city of Seattle and Dave in September 2024. The lawsuit says Kandula felt terrible fear and pain before she died. The Indian Consulate in Seattle worked with local police throughout the case to try to get justice for Kandula and her family.
This was Jaahnavi Kandula, 23. She was a masters student in Seattle supporting a single mother in India.
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) September 12, 2023
In January, she was killed by a police cruiser going 50 MPH through an intersection. Hours later, the VP of the police union was laughing about her death on a phone call. pic.twitter.com/ygeA4cY4xj
Dave is now fighting to get his job back. The Public Safety Civil Service Commission will look at his appeal. This could take several months. While this case finally saw some action, it makes people ask hard questions about police responsibility. It is similar to stories where heroes only get recognized after something bad happens.
