Family Of Indian Student Killed By US Cop Get $29-Million Settlement

The city of Seattle has agreed to pay a $29 million (roughly ₹260 crore) settlement to the family of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old Indian graduate student who died after being hit by a speeding police vehicle in 2023. Officials said the decision to settle the case aimed at providing "some measure of closure" to the grieving parents. They also acknowledged the heartbreak caused by the incident.

City Attorney Erika Evans said, "Jaahnavi Kandula's death was heartbreaking, and the city hopes this financial settlement brings some sense of closure to the Kandula family. Jaahnavi Kandula's life mattered. It mattered to her family, her friends and to our community."

What happened to Jaahnavi Kandula?

Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old graduate student from Andhra Pradesh, India, was pursuing a master's degree at Northeastern University in South Lake Union, Seattle. Her mother, an elementary school teacher, reportedly took on a significant financial burden to support Jaahnavi's education in the US.

On January 23, 2023, Jaahnavi was struck by a speeding police vehicle as she was crossing the street. Seattle Officer Kevin Dave was allegedly responding to a drug overdose call when he hit Jaahnavi, the news agency Press Trust of India reported.

Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC

— India in San Francisco (@CGISFO) September 13, 2023

Jaahnavi Kandula's case has seen many developments in the last three years, including another police officer, Daniel Auderer, the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, being fired for making insensitive remarks about Jaahnavi's death.

Bodycam footage found that Auderer was laughing and making jokes about the situation while on a phone call with police union president Mike Solan. He was heard saying that Jaahnavi had "limited value," so the city should "just write a check [for] $11,000." 

In February 2024, the King County Prosecutor's Office dropped criminal charges against Dave, stating that the criminal review did not turn up enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had acted with recklessness or criminal negligence, as required under Washington State law. 

However, in January 2025, Dave's employment was finally terminated. The department said in a statement that the investigation revealed he violated four department policies, including the use of emergency lights for an emergency response and being responsible for safely operating a patrol vehicle.