“Tell me, what will we do with the money?” This was how Jaahnavi Kandula’s mother, G Vijaya Lakshmi, reacted to the $29-million (Rs 262-crore) settlement that Seattle reached with the family three years after the death of the 23-year-old student, who was run over by a speeding police car in the US city.

Jaahnavi Kandula, from Adoni in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district, was a student of MS in Information Systems at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus. She was returning from campus on foot on January 5, 2023, when she was run over by the police car. The subsequent handling of the case by police caused outrage among the Indian community in the US. Body camera footage released by Seattle police showed another officer tasked with looking into the incident joking about it and even suggesting that Kandula’s life had “limited value”.

Seattle’s City Attorney Erika Evans said in a statement Wednesday, “Jaahnavi Kandula’s death was heartbreaking, and the city hopes this financial settlement brings some sense of closure to the Kandula family… Jaahnavi Kandula’s life mattered. It mattered to her family, her friends and to our community.”

Speaking to The Indian Express from Adoni on Thursday, Kandula’s mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, said, “The settlement may be considered as closure for us by some people, but the irresponsible police officer who caused the accident that took our daughter away from us forever has not been punished. What about the other officer who put a price on my daughter and joked about her death?”

“We heard about the payout, but even though three years have passed, we are in no position to process any new development or information about her,” Vijaya Lakshmi said.

The settlement agreed by the city of Seattle is one of the largest payments to the family of an Indian national killed in an accident in the US.

This comes after lawsuits filed by members of the South Asian community in Seattle on behalf of Kandula’s family. K Suri Babu, her grandfather, said the family did not do much, other than answering brief phone calls, and that all complaints and lawsuits were handled on their behalf by activists, lawyers, and friends of Jaahnavi.

The police car that ran over Kandula was driven by Officer Kevin Dave, who was fired by the Seattle Police Department last January after he reached an agreement with the King County Prosecutor’s Office and paid a fine of $5,000.

Days after her death, the Seattle Police Department on September 11, 2023, released body cam footage of Detective Daniel Auderer, who had been tasked with analysing the incident and establishing the culpability of Dave. In the footage, Auderer could be heard cracking jokes and suggesting that Jaahnavi’s life had “limited value” and that the city should just “write a check” of $11,000. Auderer was speaking to police union president Mike Solan in the footage.

The footage sparked outrage and condemnation across the US, particularly from the Indian diaspora, who called for action. Auderer was suspended from field duty, but initially continued in another department. He was fired in July 2024.

Kandula’s grandfather, Suri Babu, said, “Those police officers joking that she had limited value and a cheque for $11,000 would be enough really hurt us a lot.”

Originally from Halvi village in Kowthalam mandal of Kurnool district, Kandula’s parents settled in Adoni, where her mother worked as a school teacher. Her father, K Srikanth, retired from the police department.

Kandula studied at a government school before joining the Dr Jyothirmayi Degree College at Adoni. She completed her B.Com in 2019, and went to the US in September 2020 to pursue the two-year MS course, which she was due to complete in December 2023. She had also taken up a part-time job on campus.