Death of Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, from India, ignited outrage after fellow officer was recorded making ‘appalling’ remarks about case

Prosecutors in Washington state said on Wednesday they will not file felony charges against a Seattle police officer who struck and killed a graduate student from India while responding to an overdose call – a case that attracted widespread attention after another officer was recorded making callous remarks about it.

Officer Kevin Dave was driving 74mph (119km/h) on a street with a 25mph (40km/h) speed limit in a police SUV before he hit 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk on 23 January 2023.

In a memo to the Seattle police department on Wednesday, the King county prosecutor’s office noted that Dave had on his emergency lights, that other pedestrians reported hearing his siren, and that Kandula appeared to try to run across the intersection after seeing his vehicle approaching. She might also have been wearing wireless earbuds that could have diminished her hearing, they noted.

For those reasons, a felony charge of vehicular homicide was not warranted. “There is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Dave was consciously disregarding safety,” the memo said.

  • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    That second cop is the vice president of the Seattle police union. The person he was talking to on the phone when he minimized the death and talked about how worthless she was? The president of the police union.

    • Tujio@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Seattle PD is pretty fucking bad.

      Seattle Police Officer’s Guild is even worse.

      The leadership at SPOG is about as bad a it gets in big cities. Look at anything that Mike Solan has done in his career, but especially look into his words and actions around the BLM riots and CHOP. It’s fucking embarrassing that a city of our caliber has a police force of their caliber.

      • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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        8 months ago

        Seattle was also under an injunction from the Department of Justice for repeated rights violations as was Portland Police Bureau. It seems the police in many leftist cities are exceptionally heinous and I’m sure both of these departments are full of Proud Boys and their ilk.

        • Bibliotectress@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          It seems the police in many leftist cities are exceptionally heinous and I’m sure both of these departments are full of Proud Boys and their ilk.

          You’re right. I’m from Chicago and the cops there are pretty bad. New York is bad, too. Maybe it’s their safe space? Or it’s cops everywhere. I’m not really sure.