Jaahnavi Kandula was crossing the street on Jan. 23 when police officer Kevin Dave fatally struck her with his police cruiser. Dave was driving 74 mph while on his way to an overdose call, according to The Seattle Times. Kandula was thrown over 100 feet and died later that night.
Daniel Auderer, a drug-recognition officer who serves as vice president of the Seattle police union, was responding to the crash to check on whether Dave was under the influence. After concluding Dave was not impaired, Auderer called police union president Mike Solan, a conversation that was captured on Auderer’s body camera.
In the audio released by the police department on Monday, Auderer is heard laughing after telling Solan that 23-year-old Kandula was dead. He also dismissed the idea that Dave was at fault in the incident and claimed a criminal investigation was unnecessary.
“No, it’s a regular person,” Auderer said of Kandula, laughing and telling Solan to “just write a check” for $11,000.
“She was 26 anyway,” he continued, misstating her age. “She had limited value.”