Seattle police officer Daniel Aderer laughs about the killing of student Jahnavi Khandula by a colleague.

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By Catherine Donlevy

A Seattle police officer who joked about the death of a graduate student who was struck by a police cruiser while crossing the street defended his crude comments in a statement released Friday.

Officer Daniel Aderer, who joked that the death of 23-year-old Jahnavi Khandula and the city should “write a check,” was taken out of context during a private call he didn’t know was being recorded by his department. – Provided body camera.

Jan. As police responded to the fatal crash on the 23rd, Seattle police officers were speaking with Guild President Mike Solan.

“She’s dead,” Audrey says before bursting into laughter. “No, this is a regular person,” he says, referring to Gandula.

The young woman was struck and killed by a police car driven by Officer Kevin Dave, who was going 74 mph in a 25-mph zone while responding to a different “high priority” call.

Aderer, the guild’s vice president, told Solan that he didn’t believe a criminal investigation would be conducted because Dave wasn’t driving “out of control.”

At the end of the disturbing clip, Aderer joked that the city should pay for the devastation caused by one of its officers: “Eleven thousand dollars. She is 26 anyway,” he said, misrepresenting the victim’s age. “She had low self-esteem.”

After learning that his insensitive jokes were in the hands of the department, Auder submitted a letter to the officers’ association on August 8 Defending his actions, the union said on Friday it would demand an expedited investigation into employee misconduct.

Aderer said he was responding to Solan’s comments, which were not caught on camera, in which he questioned what “crazy” arguments lawyers could spin around the tragedy surrounding the value of human life.

“I replied: ‘She’s 26, what’s the value, who cares,'” Aderer said.

“I commented on the ridiculousness of lawyers – I followed a lawyer negotiating a case and sarcastically expressed that they shouldn’t come up with crazy arguments to reduce the payout.”

Aderer said he took aim at the absurdity of how the incidents were being litigated, before pointing out that he didn’t realize his private conversation was being recorded.

“I understand that the comment without context can be interpreted as horrifying and bitter. In fact, while I was engaged in a conversation about the brutality of the legal system, without context, the comment is insensitive to the victim’s family,” he said.

A panel of officials backed Audrey’s claims of innocence, saying the video, which went viral soon after its release, failed to “explain the full story/context”.

The guild praised Auder for coming forward a month before the footage was made public, and said more details about the incident are forthcoming.

The footage was posted “in the interest of transparency” on the Seattle Police Department’s YouTube page a day after the deadly confrontation.

Khandula’s family said Wednesday that it was “truly disturbing and upsetting to hear the untrue comments” made in the body-cam footage.

The exchange student had come to Northeastern University in Seattle from India to pursue a master’s in scientific information systems in the College of Engineering. She was due to graduate in December.

Jahnavi was a loving daughter and beyond dollar value to her mother and family, the family said in a statement. “We firmly believe that every human life is precious [should] Don’t underestimate, especially during a tragic loss.”

The Indian Consulate in San Francisco said it was “deeply concerned” over the handling of Khandula’s death.

“We have taken this matter strongly to local authorities in Seattle and Washington State, as well as senior officials in Washington DC, for a thorough investigation and action against those involved in this tragic case.” Embassy said in XFormerly known as Twitter.

The fatal collision is being investigated by the Seattle Police Accountability Office, and the King County Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a criminal review of the incident.