A King County Superior Court judge handed down a 6 1/2 -year prison sentence Friday to the 30-year-old man who fatally struck a Black Lives Matter protester and injured another when he drove his Jaguar through a group of demonstrators on a Seattle freeway in 2020.
Dawit Kelete pleaded guilty July 27 on three charges: reckless driving, vehicular homicide in the death of Summer Taylor and vehicular assault with aggravating substantial injuries to a second victim, Diaz Love.
In issuing the exceptional sentence, King County Superior Court Judge Cindi Port told Kelete that despite the lack of evidence he meant to harm the protesters, his behavior leading up to the incident on Interstate 5 was "extremely reckless," according to a report by KOMO.
Kelete "knew that the freeway was closed and he was trying to take a shortcut home," Port said. "That reckless decision resulted in the death of Summer Taylor and the very serious injuries of Diaz Love."
"They were only 24 years old with their entire life full of possibilities in front of them," Summer Taylor's father, Matt Taylor, told the court about his child. "Every little thing I see or hear reminds me of Summer. I want the defendant to know that what he did will never end."
On July 4, 2020, Kelete was traveling at "freeway speeds" on Interstate 5 when he swerved around a barricade of demonstrators' vehicles and into a group of protesters, hitting Taylor, who later died in the hospital, and critically injuring Love.
Kelete had told officers he had been in withdrawal from the medication Percocet, which contains oxycodone, and was struggling with an untreated addiction, court documents say.
During the hearing Friday, several of Taylor's family members shared statements with the judge.
"I will never again see my firstborn grandchild and my only granddaughter," Taylor's grandmother, Ruth Taylor, wrote in an impact statement detailing her grief over losing Taylor. "I will never again meet her for lunch, hear her laugh or say 'I love you.'"
"Our family is now left with only memories of Summer," added their uncle, Mark Taylor, in a statement. He said he had raced to Harborview after learning what happened, but was informed the injuries were too severe for recovery. "I never got to say goodbye to Summer, a fact that haunts me to this day."
In her statement, Summer Taylor's aunt, Alexandra Taylor, said the loss was made worse by media publicity and often-abusive social media commentary.
"What happened to our family was broadcast day and night on the news as well as various sites on the internet," Alexandra Taylor said in her statement. "We had to hear and see terrible comments posted by strangers about someone we loved and they knew nothing about."
Shortly after Taylor's death, Matt Taylor called for the firing of a King County Sheriff's Office deputy accused of posting an offensive meme that appeared to refer to his child. "It's disgusting and it's unfathomable to me," Matt Taylor said at the time.
Family members asked the judge for the maximum sentence allowable. "I know it won't bring Summer back, but maybe a strong message could save someone else's life," said Taylor's grandmother.
The state's sentencing range for vehicular homicide in this case was 31 to 41 months; the defense and prosecution agreed to 41 months.
The range for vehicular assault in this case was 13 to 17 months, but due to the substantial injuries Love suffered the court imposed an exceptional sentence of 34 months, to run consecutively.
Kelete was also sentenced to an additional three months for reckless driving.
Kelete reportedly declined to speak at the hearing. His attorney, Francisco Duarte, had previously stated Kelete has asked about Taylor and Diaz from the beginning and has shown deep remorse.
But Duarte also argued that it was unfair Kelete alone has faced repercussions, and that police failed to provide adequate security to the protesters demonstrating on I-5.
In an interview Saturday morning, Duarte said Kelete was unaware of the protest when he drove onto I-5 via the Stewart Street offramp after finding a nearby onramp barricaded.
Once on the freeway, Duarte said, Kelete was trying to avoid a group of running protesters when he accidentally struck Taylor and Love.
Duarte said law enforcement authorities should have created a more secure area for the demonstration. "There were no emergency lights ... or anything that really created a safety buffer for the protesters," he said.
But Kelete made one "fatal mistake" in choosing to drive up the Stewart Street exit and onto the highway, "and so he accepted responsibility for that," Duarte said Saturday.
