SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle jury on Thursday ruled that the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a Black Lives Matter protester on a closed highway must pay the protester's family $6 million.
The same jury in King County found that Washington state was not negligent in the man's death, the Seattle Times reported.
Summer Taylor, 24, was struck by a car going the wrong way on Interstate 5 in Seattle during protests in July 2020. Another protester was seriously injured.
Taylor's family sued the state, saying officials failed to take proper precautions that could have protected protesters on the interstate bridge. The driver, Dawit Kelete, 30, was sentenced in September 2023 to 6.5 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter and other charges.
The State Patrol shut down the interstate during overnight protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. A lawyer for Taylor's family said the state was also blamed because an exit ramp on the freeway was not properly closed.
“No patrol car, no spike plates, no flashing lights, no barricade, nothing. … That’s negligence,” the family’s attorney, Karen Koehler, said during closing arguments.
The state argued that Taylor's presence on the highway was illegal and that Taylor and Kelete were both at fault.
“If any of them had chosen to follow the law that the rest of us are bound by, this wouldn't be happening — this accident would never have happened,” Steve Puz, senior attorney for the Washington attorney general's office, said during his opening statement.
Damages totaled $1.75 million for each of Taylor's parents and $2.5 million for their brother.
Taylor was a veterinary resident who once hoped to attend veterinary school at Washington State University. Taylor was remembered by their family as someone who was committed to racial and LGBTQ+ justice.
