SEATTLE – The Seattle City Attorney’s Office has filed a traffic infraction against a Seattle Police officer who hit and killed a graduate student from India in January 2023.
The infraction was filed in Seattle Municipal Court against Officer Kevin Dave.
Officer Dave was answering a priority call when he sped through red lights, hitting and killing 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula as she was in a crosswalk.
Dave did not face any charges in Kandula’s death, the King County Prosecutor’s Office announced last week.
After that announcement, the Seattle Police Department referred an infraction of second-degree negligent driving.
The infraction carries a civil penalty with a fine up to $5,000.
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison issued the following statement on Officer Dave’s infraction:
“I have delegated this matter to the CAO Criminal Division Chief and will maintain a clear separation between the CAO Criminal Division and the CAO Civil Division. I have made this decision to avoid a conflict of interest, as event underlying this referral could require me, as Seattle City Attorney, to represent the City of Seattle in future related civil matters.”
King County Prosecutors previously said Officer Dave was not impaired or driving recklessly at the time of the crash.