Who was Jaahnavi Kandula crushed to death by Seattle police?

A police officer laughing about a woman who was struck and killed by a patrol car in Seattle was shown in the body cam footage.

The police responding to an overdose in the South Lake Union neighbourhood struck and threw Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, over 100 feet while she was on a crosswalk near her university campus, killing her in January.

The officer driving the patrol vehicle was responding to a priority-one call when the incident happened, Seattle Police said. The officer was going 74mph in a 25mph speed zone.

After ruling the incident as an accident, the police returned the unnamed officer to duty shortly.

Authorities are now investigating bodycam footage released by Seattle Police on Monday from the incident that shows officer Daniel Auderer — who is also the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild — insulting and laughing about the 23-year-old student during a phone call just hours after the incident.

In the footage, Mr. Auderer spoke to SPOG president Mike Solan, stating, "She was initially in a crosswalk - he said she was, but there is a witness who said, 'No she wasn't.' However, that could be different because I don't think she was thrown 40 feet either."

Then, Mr. Auderer can be heard saying, "She is dead," before laughing.

He continues, "No, a regular person is writing a check, just write a check, just, yeah," before laughing again.

“$11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value,” he says.

Who is Jhanvi Kandula?

The Seattle cop's car hit Jhanvi Kandula, a native of southern Indian state, Andhra Pradesh, on a crosswalk on January 23. According to the reports, the vehicle was travelling at 74 mph in a 25-mph zone. The student from Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh was due to graduate this December from the Northeastern University campus in South Lake Union.

Jhanvi, who was in her final year of a Master of Science in Information Systems at the Engineering college, went to the US from Bengaluru on a student exchange program in 2021 to pursue her master's degree.

According to various media reports, the car hit her at the intersection of Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street within moments of reaching the top speed. They took her to Harborview Medical Center where she succumbed to her injuries.

Mr. Auderer's incident, body cam investigation

Mr. Auderer made a complaint to Seattle's Office of Police Accountability, explaining that he meant for the conversation to be private and part of his duties as a representative of SPOG (Seattle Police Officers' Guild).

He mentioned that he called Mr. Solan to clarify what happened but accidentally left his body camera on, as reported by KTTH.

Discussing their conversation, the Seattle police officer said Mr. Solan expressed regret that Ms. Kandula's death might lead to legal debates about the worth of a human life.

In response, Mr. Auderer stated something like, 'She's only 26. Does it really matter? Who cares?' He meant this comment to mock lawyers, according to his report.

As KTTH reported, he further explained, "I chuckled at how legal battles treat these incidents, where two sides negotiate over a tragedy."

Mr. Auderer admitted that anyone hearing the body camera recording would likely think he was being insensitive to loss of life. However, he stressed, "I didn't mean my comment to be malicious."

Ms. Kandula's uncle, Ashok Mandula, expressed his thoughts, saying, 'The family doesn't have much to say, except I wonder if these men would value their own daughters or granddaughters. Every life is precious.'

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