ER CHARGE INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE Indian student run over in Seattle: Consulate presses for stricter action

The Indian consulate in Seattle has raised with local authorities in the US the case of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula after a prosecution attorney said an overspeeding police officer who struck and killed her while responding to a drug overdose call will not face any criminal charges, citing lack of "sufficient" evidence.

The case attracted widespread attention after another officer was recorded making callous remarks about it.

Seattle officer Kevin Dave was driving 119 kmph on a street with a 40 kmph speed limit in a police SUV before he hit 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula, from Andhra Pradesh, in a crosswalk on January 23, 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.