In the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, the US cop who ran over her will not be charged with a crime because of “lack of evidence.”

There will be no criminal charges brought against the Seattle police officer who hit and killed Hyderabad-born Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula while responding to an overdose call, the authorities stated, citing a “lack of sufficient evidence.”

Officer Kevin Dave of the Seattle Police Department will not face criminal charges, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office. King County prosecuting attorney Leesa Manion released a statement saying, “After staffing this case with senior deputy prosecuting attorneys and office leadership, I have determined that we lack sufficient evidence under Washington state law to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The choice was made about 13 months after Kandula’s death, which prompted outcry from all across the world. On January 23, as Kandula, 23, was crossing the street at a South Lake Union crosswalk in Seattle, she was hit by a police car driven by Officer Dave. While traveling to a report of a drug overdose call, he was traveling at 74 mph (more than 119 km/h). The police patrol car hit Kandula, who was flung 100 feet in the air.

Officer Daniel Auderer joked about the fatal collision in bodycam video made public by the Seattle Police Department. He also downplayed any suggestion that Dave was at blame or that a criminal probe was required. Officer Daniel Auderer dismissed Kandula’s death with a chuckle, saying the city could “just write a check” and that her short life had “limited value.”

Officer Auderer had earlier claimed that his quip that the city ought to “just write a check” had been misinterpreted during a confidential conversation that he was unaware was being filmed by his department’s body camera.

Officer Auderer’s remarks were also unethical and damaged the public’s confidence in the Seattle Police Department and law enforcement in general, according to attorney Manion. The lawyer went on to say that neither a criminal inquiry nor the possibility that Dave was at fault was implied by the bodycam film.

Even if Officer Auderer’s remarks are heinous, they have no bearing on the PAO’s legal interpretation of Officer Dave’s actions. The news agency PTI said in the statement that “the Office of Police Accountability, not the PAO, bears the responsibility of disciplinary investigation and proceedings relating to Officer Auderer’s comment.”

According to accounts from the local media, the crash was caused by speed. According to the Seattle Police Department, Dave was attending to a “priority one” call at the request of the Seattle Fire Department.

The policeman did not always have his siren on. At the crossroads, the policeman “chirped” his siren instead. The police department had previously said that he had his emergency lights on.

Kandula was a graduate student at the Seattle campus of Northeastern University. The institution said in January 2023 that it will give her family a posthumous degree.