Amaravati: Two days before the announcement of $29 million (around Rs 262 crore) compensation deal was announced by the city of Seattle for the family of Jaahnavi Kandula, who died after being hit by a speeding police vehicle, the family suffered another tragedy.
Jaahnavi’s father, Kandula Srikanth, a police head constable in Andhra Pradesh, died of cardiac arrest on February 10.
Srikanth died in Guntakal in Anantapur district, where he was posted. His last rites were performed in the hometown of Adoni in Kurnool district on February 11, a relative said.
The relative declined to comment on the compensation deal, saying the family is in mourning. The family learnt about the compensation deal through social media.
The family recently received a phone call from a US official, asking them to come to the US in March.
Jaahnavi (23), who was pursuing a master’s degree in information systems at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus, was hit by a speeding police car on January 23, 2023, while crossing the street.
She was the elder of the two daughters of Kandula Srikanth and Vijayalaxmi. Jaahnavi went to the US in 2021 for higher education.
Jaahnavi was hit by Officer Kevin Dave, who was driving as fast as 119 kmph in a 40 kmph zone as he responded to a drug overdose call. He had his emergency lights on and had been using his siren at intersections.
Dashcam footage showed the student attempting to cross the street moments before she was struck. The impact was so severe that she was thrown more than 100 feet through the air.
Bodycam footage of a Seattle cop joking about the death of Jaahnavi had surfaced, triggering outrage. India had urged the US to conduct a thorough investigation.
In a video released by the Seattle Police Department, a cop can be heard joking and laughing while discussing the accident.
In the clip, Seattle Police Officers’ Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer, in a call with the guild’s president, can be heard saying, “She is dead” before bursting out into laughter and calling Jaahnavi “a regular person”. He further said, through bursts of laughter, “Yeah, just write a cheque. Eleven thousand dollars.”
The clip ends with him saying, “She was 26 anyway, she had limited value”, getting her age wrong.
Auderer and Kevin Dave were later fired by the Police Department.
The settlement announced on February 12 resolved a 110 million USD lawsuit filed in 2024 by the family.
“Jaahnavi Kandula’s death was heartbreaking, and the city hopes this financial settlement brings some sense of closure to the Kandula family,” City Attorney Erika Evans said in a statement on Wednesday. “Jaahnavi Kandula’s life mattered. It mattered to her family, her friends and to our community.”
(IANS)
