According to newly released bodycam video, the Seattle cop who struck and killed a grad student in January while speeding without his siren said he “f-ked up” after the sad crash.
Officer Kevin Dave was traveling at up to 74 mph while responding to a “high priority” call on Jan. 23 when he hit and killed Jaahnavi Kandula at a crossing.
As he plowed into Kandula, a 23-year-old master’s student at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus, Dave chirped his siren but did not have it functioning continuously, according to video produced by prosecutors and published in part by PubliCola on Thursday.
Out of respect for Kandula’s family, the film did not include the moment Dave’s automobile hit the young woman.
Prosecutors were said to be considering charging Dave for failing to use his siren to “warn others of the emergency nature of the situation,” as required by police practice.
“I f–ked up,” Dave was heard saying after the deadly incident at the intersection of Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street, where the speed limits are 25 and 20 mph respectively.
In the footage, a loud roar from Dave’s patrol car can be heard as the speedometer shows he accelerated up to 74 miles per hour at one point.
Moments after reaching the top speed, he can be seen slowing down the car before striking Kandula at the fateful intersection.
Bodycam video showed the officer then performing CPR on Kandula after the collision.
“Lights were on. I was chirping the sirens…she was in the crosswalk. She saw me, she started running through the crosswalk. Slammed on my breaks. Started staying back where she should before crossing,” Dave can be heard in the video telling a responding officer.
In other bodycam footage, Dave can be heard saying, “I can have a hundred minutes. I could have…there’s nothing for me to do right now, but sit. And that is the f–king worst thing that…you just have to sit here. So many questions that are unanswered, so many questions.”
The Office of Police Accountability is still looking into whether Dave followed department protocol.
According to county prosecutors, a decision on prospective charges will be made by early August.
According to the college, Kandula arrived in Seattle from Bengaluru, India in 2021 to pursue a master’s degree at Northeastern University. She was a Master of Science in Information Systems student at the College of Engineering, and she was due to graduate in December.
Her grieving family said they were “heartbroken” in January after the tragic accident, telling KJR-FM radio she was the daughter of a single mother who always prioritized her education.
“In spite of earning less than [$200] per month, her mother educated Jaahnavi and encouraged her to [travel to] the United States hoping Jaahnavi would have a better future and a better life abroad,” it said. “Her mother’s hopes and dreams are cut short now.”
In its own statement following the incident, the Seattle Police Department expressed its “deepest condolences to Kandula’s family, and called it “a terrible tragedy for everyone involved.”
